Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira isn’t even booked yet, but people are already talking about it.
Earlier this month, Pereira regained his light heavyweight title with a first-round knockout win over Magomed Ankalaev in their rematch at UFC 320. Immediately after winning the belt, “Poatan” revealed he had intended to call out Jones with a win, but the passing of Jones’s brother that week made him rethink the callout. Still, Pereira made it clear in the aftermath that if he had his druthers, a superfight against Jones at the UFC White House event would be his next fight. And Joe Rogan agrees.
Speaking on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast over the weekend, Rogan insisted that Pereira vs. Jones is the matchup to make, and offered an idea to add even more spectacle to the matchup.
“It would be Alex,” Rogan said. “[The Tom Aspinall matchup] hasn’t sailed, but the big money fight is Alex and Jon Jones at the White House. Are you f*cking kidding me? Catchweight. Make it 225 pounds. Alex still is the light heavyweight champion; make it a catchweight fight.
“It doesn’t have to be for a title. Make it the ‘Bad Motherf*cker Upper Edition.’ You have the ‘BMF’ belt for 155ers. Who is the real BMF? Do you think any one of those guys can beat Alex Pereira? You think you can get a 155-pounder in there against Alex Pereira? Does Max Holloway survive against Alex Pereira? No! Shut the f*ck up. That’s the bad motherf*cker.”
The UFC introduced the “BMF” belt in 2019 after a promo from Nate Diaz created the concept. There are no rules for the symbolic title, with the first one being contested at welterweight, while the subsequent BMF fights have been at lightweight.
Since its inception, the idea of other BMF belts for heavier weight classes and for women’s divisions has also sprouted, but never come to fruition. But the UFC does like to put belts on the line in main events, and Jones’s move up to heavyweight makes it unlikely he can return to 205 pounds again. An additional, symbolic belt could befit a bout that Rogan suggests would be the biggest in the history of the sport.
“The Jon Jones-Alex Pereira fight will probably be the biggest fight in human history, in MMA,” Rogan said. “As a matchup, you’ve got the greatest of all time in Jon Jones, and arguably the most destructive striker that’s ever competed. No one is like that guy.”
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