Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira isn’t even booked but, however persons are already speaking about it.
Earlier this month, Pereira regained his gentle heavyweight title with a first-round knockout win over Magomed Ankalaev of their rematch at UFC 320. Instantly after profitable the belt, “Poatan” revealed he had supposed to name out Jones with a win, however the passing of Jones’s brother that week made him rethink the callout. Nonetheless, Pereira made it clear within the aftermath that if he had his druthers, a superfight towards Jones on the UFC White Home occasion could be his subsequent combat. And Joe Rogan agrees.
Talking on his Joe Rogan Expertise podcast over the weekend, Rogan insisted that Pereira vs. Jones is the matchup to make, and provided an thought so as to add much more spectacle to the matchup.
“It will be Alex,” Rogan mentioned. “[The Tom Aspinall matchup] hasn’t sailed, however the large cash combat is Alex and Jon Jones on the White Home. Are you f*cking kidding me? Catchweight. Make it 225 kilos. Alex nonetheless is the sunshine heavyweight champion; make it a catchweight combat.
“It doesn’t need to be for a title. Make it the ‘Unhealthy Motherf*cker Higher Version.’ You may have the ‘BMF’ belt for 155ers. Who’s the true BMF? Do you assume any a type of guys can beat Alex Pereira? You assume you may get a 155-pounder in there towards Alex Pereira? Does Max Holloway survive towards Alex Pereira? No! Shut the f*ck up. That’s the dangerous motherf*cker.”
The UFC launched the “BMF” belt in 2019 after a promo from Nate Diaz created the idea. There are not any guidelines for the symbolic title, with the primary one being contested at welterweight, whereas the following BMF fights have been at light-weight.
Since its inception, the concept of different BMF belts for heavier weight courses and for girls’s divisions has additionally sprouted, however by no means come to fruition. However the UFC does prefer to put belts on the road in principal occasions, and Jones’s transfer as much as heavyweight makes it unlikely he can return to 205 kilos once more. A further, symbolic belt may befit a bout that Rogan suggests could be the largest within the historical past of the game.
“The Jon Jones-Alex Pereira combat will most likely be the largest combat in human historical past, in MMA,” Rogan mentioned. “As a matchup, you’ve received the best of all time in Jon Jones, and arguably probably the most damaging striker that’s ever competed. Nobody is like that man.”
