Alex Pereira will break GOAT Jon Jones’ record if he gets past Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313
Champ Alex Pereira all set to sprint past a 205-pound title record held by Jon Jones with a UFC 313 PPV main event win.
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Alex Pereira looks to break Jon Jones' record with UFC 313 victory (Source: IMAGO)
Alex Pereira arguably faces his toughest test yet; he faces 205-pound juggernaut Magomed Ankalaev. The duo meet atop the UFC 313 headliner for the promotion’s first Las Vegas PPV appearance in 2025. Ankalaev could very well play spoiler to his title run. But if he gets past the Russian star, “Poatan” can topple one Jon Jones record like never before.
Alex Pereira has had a unique 2024 with triple KO 205-pound title defenses. He knocked out prodigal champ Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 in his maiden defense. Jiri Prochazka ran things back with the UFC 313 star, and he suffered a head-kick KO. Pereira next went to a gritty war against Khalil Rountree Jr. at the UFC 307 PPV main event.
The Brazilian also tied for most appearances since October 2021 with his UFC 307 pay-per-view title slot. Pereira set a new precedent of 175 days between UFC title defenses, breaking Ronda Rousey’s previous record. Now, he could easily sprint a Jon Jones-held record. A fourth defense at the UFC 205-pound limit surpasses “Bones” and his record of defending the light heavyweight strap four times.
In the space of just 364 days, Jones had defeated Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, and Vitor Belfort. After infamously popping his shoulder back into socket, he outclassed Belfort with a keylock submission at UFC 152. Unlike GOAT Jon Jones, Pereira can make it in 329 days! He entered the then-vacant UFC light heavyweight picture not that long back at UFC 295.
Alex Pereira changes tune on training with Jon Jones
Jon Jones vs. Pereira has remained a quirky but very likely superfight scenario for the 2025 season. More so, because of “Bones” himself. The heavyweight champion has long snubbed interim champ Tom Aspinall’s unification chances. There were also rampant rumors fueling this.
Instead, Alex Pereira seemed like the bigger draw. He even demanded “f—k you” money and huge fighter compensation to consider the Aspinall option, as it allegedly didn’t do anything for him. Alex Pereira, too, was hyping himself up as the better option after Jones won at UFC 309. Both he and Jones expressed some interest in sharing the mat. That was when he was aspiring for the 265-pound marks.
“Poatan” had even teased heavyweight in his post-fight mic-time at UFC 303 and 307. However, he’s already a champ champ; there’s a restrictive pause on stalling out the division for triple-champ dreams. One should know; “Bones” has logjammed his HW lineup too. Hence, Pereira is still welcoming a heavyweight change but is not too hopeful.
To be honest, I don’t think that makes as much sense any more, …Back when I said that I would like to fight at heavyweight, people already put the dots together and basically mentioned Jon Jones. That’s something that is speculated — So I wouldn’t want to go and train with him now, and then if we end up fighting, people will start saying a bunch of stuff about whatever in the fight. I think it wouldn’t make sense now, but if we were to fight one day and then go train.
Alex Pereira in a BloodyElbow Exclusive interview as part of Stake.com (@Stake) ambassador
He thus snubs out a chance that he’d be training with Jones in near proximity; he’s not saying no, though. UFC CEO Dana White is in awe of him pitching in his services whenever. However, White has presented he has, although a few, contenders left at light heavyweight. Come UFC 313, that could all change again.
Related: Loud NYC crowd taunts Jon Jones after Dana White confirms Tom Aspinall’s next shot
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