Alex Pereira answers Jon Jones’s calls for future UFC heavyweight clash
During a recent interview with MMA Junkie‘s Nolan King, Pereira addressed Jones’s callout.
“Yeah, it caught me by surprise, especially after I saw the first message. I didn’t really expect to see that this morning,” Pereira said of Jones’s tweets. “I spoke about going up to heavyweight to fight on this card. I knew it’d catch some eyes eventually. I didn’t expect it to be so fast.
“He is on the sidelines for a while and he wants to do another fight before that…I just want to fight. To be thinking about things and not have them come to fruition would be just draining for me and for the fans. That’s definitely a fight I would love to do. For me to move up to heavyweight, I need some time – but not that much time because I’m already a big guy.”
Pereira was briefly linked to a possible fight with Aspinall for the interim title. But, the UFC seems to be heading in other directions for both fighters, and Aspinall is still slated to return at UFC 304.
Pereira became the fastest to become a two-division UFC champion after a quick rise in MMA. The former Glory Kickboxing titleholder is 3-0 since making the full-time move to light heavyweight.
First thing’s first for Jones, who is still recovering from an injury he suffered ahead of UFC 295. If he gets past Miocic, a fight with Pereira could be on the table.
