“It is something I would really like to do,” said Alex Pereira, expressing his willingness to box Oleksandr Usyk in the heavyweight division. Many initially thought it was a joke, similar to his previous statements about fighting Jon Jones. But what if I told you that the current light-heavyweight champion might be planning something big after his clash with Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313? How do we know this? Well, it appears that Alex Pereira is currently weighing just 2 pounds less than heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

Yes, you heard that right—Alex Pereira is just 2 pounds lighter than Jon Jones in his recent weigh-ins at his gym. The current light-heavyweight recently shared a video on his Instagram, where he weighed in at 235 lbs, while Jon Jones last weighed in at 237 lbs. As he weighed himself, he uttered a single word, “Chama” Well, does that mean that Alex Pereira is quite serious about jumping divisions? This might be a possibility considering the fact that ‘Poatan’ has been hinting at a heavyweight clash for quite some time now.

While having a conversation with a renowned journalist, Ariel Helwani, the light-heavyweight champion asserted that he would like to face Jon Jones in a championship match, “I’m the champ, I want to fight the champ,” Pereira said on The Ariel Helwani Show. “So, let’s make the fight with Jon Jones. That’s the fight that I want for heavyweight.”

He further added, “Before [the Miocic fight], they actually talked about possibly fighting, some things like that. But they didn’t talk no more,” Pereira’s coach and translator Plinio Cruz explained, “Not a friend, not somebody that I talk with on the regular, but somebody that I respect. And I know that he respects me, there’s mutual respect.”

Alex Pereira is not the only one who has expressed a desire to face the heavyweight champion. Jon Jones is inclined to face the light-heavyweight champion, a matchup he seems to be more interested in than one against Tom Aspinall.

Jon Jones is more keen to fight Alex Pereira than Tom Aspinall

Having an impeccable career record, Jon Jones appears to be playing a bit safe after his last battle against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. The heavyweight champion of the world has assessed that it is “highly unlikely” that he might face Tom Aspinall in the future but he is open to the idea of fighting Alex Pereira for a different belt. Interestingly, Jon Jones in his most recent statement asked the UFC CEO to create a new BMF belt for their clash.

In a recent interview with TSN‘s Aaron Bronsteter, Jon Jones stated, “It would be cool to fight for the heavyweight championship, but I’d also willingly give up the heavyweight championship,” Jones said. “I walked away from the light heavyweight championship and I would love to walk away from this one as well, on top.”

He further added, “I love the position that I’m in right now. Fighting [Alex] Pereira for the ‘BAMF’ belt, that would be cool. We both have two belts in two weight classes and the night we’d fight, we’d be fighting for our third belt, which would be the ‘BAMF’. How cool would that be?” As much as Jones would love to share the Octagon with the light-heavyweight champion, the fans are not in the mood to let it slide as they demand a clash against Tom Aspinall. Considering that, what do you think will happen if Jon Jones and Alex Pereira clash against each other? State your thoughts in the comments below.