After Alex Pereira flattened Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320, the Brazilian wasted no time revealing his next move. Inside the T-Mobile Arena, ‘Poatan’ reclaimed the light heavyweight title with a ruthless first-round knockout, then immediately declared that only a heavyweight showdown at the White House would be worthy of him next. And the opponent he called out? Jon Jones, arguably the greatest of all time. The matchup sounds like a blockbuster fans wouldn’t dare miss, but Dana White seemed surprisingly reluctant to entertain the idea. 

Talking about Pereira’s possible move to heavyweight, White addressed the topic at the UFC 320 post-fight presser and said, “I don’t know. There are still fights in this division, but we’ll see.” Well, the UFC CEO’s lack of enthusiasm instantly cast doubt on a potential Alex Pereira vs. Jon Jones showdown at the White House. And now, as the promotion prepares to enter the Paramount era, under which the super-marquee event would take place, ‘Poatan’ is growing slightly unsure about his chances of landing the fight he wants.

Alex Pereira doubts his chances of starring at the UFC White House card 

In an interview with TMZ, the reporter asked Alex Pereira, “The white house fight, do you think that’s gonna be serious? We’re gonna end up seeing that? To which, ‘Poatan’ replied, “Yeah, I think it’s gonna happen. Dana White has said it’s gonna happen. Everything has been getting worked out. So yeah, that’s gonna happen.” 

Well, while the reigning two-time 205 lbs kingpin confirmed that Dana White has been pushing to make the White House card happen, Pereira also acknowledged that even with his strong desire to face Jon Jones in a heavyweight showdown next year, he still hasn’t sat down with the UFC to actually talk about it.

‘Poatan’ continued in the TMZ interview, “There’s no way of knowing. I haven’t really sat down with them and talked about what the future holds after my last fight. So there’s no way of knowing exactly.”

Adding to the fact that White and Pereira haven’t discussed him headlining the White House event, it’s also important to note that next year’s American marquee card still doesn’t have an official date. Without a confirmed event, the UFC won’t likely push anyone to anchor the show. However, that hasn’t stopped ‘Bones’ and Pereira from building their own promo for the fight.

And it seems the former UFC heavyweight champion already has a full game plan crafted to beat Alex Pereira if they meet next year inside the Octagon.   

Jon Jones has already started crafting his game plan for ‘Poatan’  

While Alex Pereira might be losing some sleep over the possibility of missing out on a White House fight next year, his potential opponent, Jon Jones, has already started building his game plan. Honestly, ‘Bones’ chances of fighting on the American Independence Day card also look a bit shaky, largely because of his inconsistent relationship with Dana White. So overall, bringing this matchup to life seems like an uphill task, though it hasn’t stopped ‘Bones’ from studying Pereira’s style.

On Geoffrey Woo’s podcast, Jon Jones said, “Pereira posts everything, every sparring session. I have a whole kickboxing career to study from, a pretty decent resume in MMA to watch now, and take things from. So I feel like Pereira’s really stuck in a certain way of fighting where he could really show that he has tendencies in his combinations and defence. It would be my job to find the holes inside of those tendencies, which I could.”

For a UFC fighter who has defended his title 13 times, it shows just how deep Jon Jones goes when breaking down opponents and searching for the mistakes he can capitalise on. However, that doesn’t erase the threat of Alex Pereira’s looming left hook—a weapon that can end anyone’s night in a heartbeat. Still, even with all this buildup, it’s hard to imagine the UFC actually booking this fight next year.

That said, do you think Alex Pereira will end up fighting Jon Jones at the White House event? Or do you think something even crazier could happen: maybe a showdown with Khamzat Chimaev instead? Let us know in the comments section below.