It might not be Jon Jones, but Tom Aspinall would be “delighted” to face fellow champion Alex Pereira.
The UFC light heavyweight champion has been quite successful inside the Octagon since signing with UFC in 2021. In nine bouts, Pereira has two world championship wins, six victories over former champions and made his second title defense with a second-round TKO win over Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303 last weekend.
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After dominating the 205-pound division, there has been much talk of Pereira moving up to heavyweight in the future, which could see “Poitan” become the first UFC fighter to win a third title. Of course, it won't be easy; to achieve this feat, he would have to face fights against Jon Jones and interim champion Tom Aspinall.
Aspinall has had his eye on Pereira for some time, alluding to a heavyweight bout between the pair earlier this year, and while Aspinall will have to make a rare interim title defense against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304, the Brit has his eyes on the world welcoming Pereira to the heavyweight division.
“I'm not holding back on anybody,” Aspinall said. Talk Sports When asked about a possible fight with Pereira, he said: “If that's what UFC wants to do, I'd be happy to do it.”
“As an elite-level fighter myself, I can't help but be impressed with what Alex Pereira has accomplished over the past few years,” Aspinall added. “…I'm not getting ahead of myself right now by fighting Curtis Blaydes, but if UFC wants to do it at some point, we'd absolutely do it.”
Aspinall had hoped to unify the titles with Jon Jones, but “Bones” has decided to fight the previously scheduled Stipe Miocic instead. Aspinall, 31, is 7-1 at UFC, with his lone loss coming in his first bout of 2022 to Blaydes, where he suffered a freak knee injury 15 seconds into the first round. Aspinall will look to avenge that loss in the co-main event of UFC 304 on July 27.
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Following UFC 303, CEO Dana White is expected to speak about the possibility of promoting light heavyweight champion Pereira.
“The whole time we were there Joe Rogan was in my ear saying, 'Let him fight at heavyweight. Come on, do it,' so I know that's what people want to see,” White said when asked about Pereira fighting at heavyweight during the post-fight press conference at UFC 303. “We'll see how this goes.”
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