“Look What Jon Did to Cyril Gane”: Alex Pereira Warned to Back Off From Making Heavyweight Move Despite Dana White’s Interest

Jon Jones, the undisputed heavyweight champion of the UFC, has recently shown interest in Alex Pereira, riling up MMA fans with a tweet: “Who would you guys want to see me fight the most, Alex or Tom?” This comes even as ‘Bones’ prepares to fight former champion Stipe Miocic in the second half of 2024 after their first UFC 295 encounter was postponed due to an injury the champ sustained weeks before the fight. Amid this continuing buzz around a possible Jones-Pereira bout, former Bellator champion Ben Askren believes that Bones has his work cut short when it comes to Alex Pereira.

After flattening Jamahal Hill at their UFC 300 main event bout, had called for a heavyweight clash at the post-fight octagon interview. This, of course, would give the former middleweight champion a shot at becoming the first three-division champion of the UFC and adding to his legacy. Ben Askren, however, believes that on the face of a wrestler, things could not end well for the Brazilian star owing to the deficits in his ground game.

Askren predicts Jon Jones will submit Alex Pereira in a round

Speaking to former two-division champion and UFC commentator Daniel Cormier on their ‘Funky and the Champ’ YouTube show, ‘Funky Ben’ asserted that despite Pereira’s world-class striking and devastating left hand, Jones, who is a world-class wrestler, could very well take on Poatan, and finish him with ease.

“[Alex Pereira] has still not fought a wrestler. So we still have all of these questions. So if he fights Jon Jones, I think there’s a chance it’s over in, like two and a half minutes. I mean, look what Jon did to Ciryl Gane. He’s a large man, he’s a high-level wrestler, he’s got great grappling skills. Yeah, I think there’s a possibility of that for sure,” he said.

And there does seem to be some merit in Askren’s take. Pereira fought Jan Blachowicz on his light heavyweight debut at UFC 291 last year. Fresh off of losing his middleweight title to Israel Adesanya in their rematch, the Blachowicz fight was a virtual number one title contender bout for the then-vacant 205-pound title.

And while Pereira managed to eke out a split decision victory after three rounds, he was found wanting on the ground, where the Pole kept ‘Poatan’ for almost half of the fight. With over seven minutes of control time to Pereira’s few seconds, the Brazilian’s grappling struggles were apparent for everyone to see.

Despite these shortcomings, Pereira has indicated he would be willing to fight Jones at heavyweight but felt the decision was out of his hands, and up to Dana White and the UFC.

Dana White is not too keen on Jones-Pereira

Dana White, speaking to the press after UFC 300 following Alex Pereira’s calling for a heavyweight fight at UFC 301 in his native Brazil, was not very enthusiastic about the idea. Pereira, of course, didn’t fight at UFC 301, almost definitely because of the short turn-around time between 300 and 301. On the other hand, the prospect of him moving up to heavyweight is still on the table.

After UFC 300, the UFC boss, echoing Askren’s sentiment, had warned the Brazilian to stay at light heavyweight and defend his belt as there were many “killers” such as Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones at heavyweight. This lack of enthusiasm on the UFC boss’s part is why the chances of a Jones vs. Pereira fight do not seem very high at the moment.

But, if there is one thing that Dana White and the UFC love, it is making money. And Jones-Pereira would certainly make a lot of money and is likely to be one of the most successful cards in UFC history. In addition, most fans will certainly be on board. And both of these things have been known to soften Dana White’s heart.