Conor McGregor was scheduled to fight Michael Chandler at UFC 303, but a toe injury forced him to withdraw. The UFC already had most of its pay-per-view events in 2024 booked ahead of time, so “The Mystic Mac” could not return before the end of the year like he wanted to.
Chandler, in the meantime, has finally moved on from McGregor and will be facing Charles Oliveira at UFC 309. Winning the matchup can help the former get a title shot in the UFC lightweight division or he could fight his original opponent again with even higher stakes.
The real talk of the town, though, is Alex Pereira who’s defended his UFC light heavyweight belt thrice in 2024. Here’s what McGregor thinks of a superfight between “Poatan” and Jon Jones.
Conor McGregor Calls Alex Pereira The Pound-For-Pound Best UFC Fighter And A Threatening Opponent For Jon Jones
McGregor recently appeared on The Schmo YouTube channel for a quick interview. When asked who should be the best pound-for-pound UFC fighter in the world, he vouched for the Brazilian to get the title.
Next up, “The Notorious” discussed why he thinks Pereira should move up to heavyweight. For starters, it’s a great opportunity to create history by becoming the first three-division UFC champ ever. He admitted to assuming that “Poatan” had a difficult weight cut for UFC 307 but then pointed out that it could be due to antibiotics and other health concerns.
McGregor, like countless other fans, acknowledged that Magomed Ankalaev deserves to fight Pereira at light heavyweight. However, if the UFC light heavyweight champ moves up a weight class, he should fight Jones according to the Dubliner.
McGregor reflected on Jones’ impressive but quick heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane in March 2023. He believes that the former UFC light heavyweight champ is still untested at heavyweight and Pereira’s explosive yet patient style could be a tough puzzle to solve.
The Irishman also claimed that Jones’ size at heavyweight shouldn’t be a problem for Pereira. Although he’s only faced middleweights and light heavyweights yet, he should be able to fit in with the heavyweights naturally.
“I’d put Alex as number one [pound-for-pound]. I think he poses a lot of problems for Jon also. You know, that’s a dangerous style for Jon but it’s a decent one for him coz he’s not, you know, so big. Jon is new to the heavyweight division. Jon, he had a nice one against Ciryl Gane but he’s still untested at heavyweight. And I’m sure, in the back of his mind, he has that thought that you know, some of these guys are really big. Alex is a nice one and it’s still a dangerous one, though. Probably, even at the core of it, it’s probably even more dangerous.”
- READ MORE: ‘How Scary Is It?’ – Daniel Cormier Imagines ‘Amateur’ Alex Pereira With A Well-Rounded MMA Skillset
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