Former interim lightweight champion, Dustin Poirier has played up a long-rumored heavyweight super fight between promotional champions, Jon Jones and Alex Pereira – as soon as UFC 309 later this year, describing the massive clash as “blockbuster”.
Jones, the incumbent heavyweight champion, is all but officially set to return to action before the end of this annum in the main event of UFC 309, in a debut outing at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Expected to take on the returning former two-time heavyweight champion, Stipe Miocic, Rochester native, Jones has recently ramped up training for his return to the Octagon for the first time since March of last year.
Weighing up his immediate fighting future ahead of his comeback fight, Rochester native, Jones admitted he was not sure if he would continue competing after his bout with Miocic, however, amid links to a super fight the above-mentioned, Pereira, claimed there were many options still on the table for him.
UFC urged to go all-in on Jon Jones – Alex Pereira super fight
And one party willing the bout into fruition is the above-mentioned, Poirier, who believes the UFC should skip both Miocic, and current interim heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall – and go ‘all-in’ on a fight between Jones and Pereira.
“If (Jon) Jones wrestles, I mean, Jones is lot bigger – I don’t know, Jones has never been knocked out,” Dustin Poirier told MMA FIghting while discussing a potential Jon Jones x Alex Pereira matchup. “Jones is not gonna play the game with him, he’s too smart. But also, moving to heavyweight might prolong his (Jones’) longevity – a heavyweight’s shelf live is a lot longer. And even with the heavyweight division, bro, Stipe’s (Miocic) been out a good bit, and like I was saying about (Michael) Chandler, we age quick.”
“Stipe could come back and be a completely different person,” Poirier continued. “… Aspinall is like, obviously legit, he’s the interim champion, he’s beat some good guys, but he doesn’t have that aura that Alex and Jones have. It’s the perfect time for it – it’s bigger, it’s a blockbuster [fight], bro. …Dude, Jon Jones versus Alex is the one.”
Enjoying a stunning victory at the end of last month, former middleweight champion, Pereira successfully defended his light heavyweight crown for the second time, taking out former gold holder, Jiri Prochazka with a thunderous second round high-kick KO – and subsequently called for a heavyweight leap.