Alex Pereira responds to Jon Jones' call for 'massive' UFC heavyweight title fight

Alex Pereira heard Jon Jones loud and clear.

The UFC's reigning light heavyweight champion responded Friday to comments made by Jones during a fan Q&A at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro about a potential matchup between the two titleholders. In a series of lengthy social media posts, Jones announced that he would defend his UFC heavyweight belt against Pereira following his scheduled bout with Stipe Miocic, rather than unifying the title with interim champion Tom Aspinall. I explained why I wanted to do it.

Even in the face of Jones' comments, Pereira did not shy away from the challenge.

“He said he wants this fight and my job is to fight. This is to decide the promotion, so let's see what happens from now on,” Pereira said in Portuguese .

“After my last fight, I said I wanted to fight at heavyweight, but I didn’t get an answer.” [from the UFC], So somehow I forgot and my plans changed.But I don't know if this will change because I got this message from Jon Jones last night [plans moving forward]. It is very difficult to become a three-division champion and not many people take on the challenge, but if I have the chance, I would like to bring joy to everyone and bring a better life to my family. ”

In addition to holding the promotion's 205-pound belt, Pereira, 36, is a former UFC middleweight champion and a former two-division GLORY kickboxing champion. He recently headlined UFC 300 with a first-round KO of Jamahal Hill, making him the fifth fighter on a UFC hit list that already includes Jiri Prochaska, Jan Blachowicz, Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland. Added former champion. After UFC 300, Pereira went public with the idea of ​​testing himself at heavyweight, but told MMA Fighting on Thursday that he expected his next bout to be a 205-pound title defense against Prochaska in a rematch of their November matchup. He said he is doing so.

Jones, 36, is also a two-weight UFC champion, holding the light heavyweight belt from 2011-15 and 2018-20, before winning the heavyweight title with a first-round submission of Cyril Gane in March 2023. Obtained. He is expected to face Miocic in late 2024 after recovering from his shoulder injury. Early Friday morning, he wrote on social media that the fight against Pereira would be “absolutely huge” and downplayed Aspinall's ability to draw. He said the Pereira bout “will be the biggest fight in mixed martial arts history.”

“There will never be a game that generates more paychecks than this. Marketing would be crazy,” Jones wrote.

“Tom only matters in Britain, newsflash. Pereira is one of the most divisive figures in the sport. Tom is a candidate who won the belt from another candidate. We are Madison Square. -We had to save the main event at the Garden. We're thinking about the dollar signs, the legacy, the big picture here. It's not what British fans want to see.”

Pereira has never fought above the light heavyweight limit, but said Friday he walks at 238 pounds when not in camp.

“The longer it takes, the more [to move up to heavyweight]I’m going to prepare better to fight at heavyweight,” Pereira said. “I'm heavy, but I'm stronger than heavy. I can reach my desired weight in a short period of time.”