The heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been in limbo for some time now. Following Francis Ngannou’s departure from the UFC, Jon Jones became heavyweight champion in March 2023, and was slated to defend against Stipe Miocic in November last year at UFC 295. A torn pectoral tendon later, Jones pulled out of the bout with the duo finally being rebooked for November 16th at UFC 309. Meanwhile, Tom Aspinall became interim champion while Jones and Miocic were away, even defending it at UFC 304 against Curtis Blaydes. On paper, Aspinall is the rightful contender for the title after the upcoming MSG card. Dana White even said that Aspinall would face the winner of Jones vs. Miocic. However, Jones still doesn’t seem intrigued by Aspinall, and has shifted his gaze towards a different fighter – one that goes by the moniker ‘Hands of Stone’.

While the world gears up for the war between Jones and Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, the heavyweight champion faces a fork in the road ahead. One path leads to retirement, while the other leads him to another ‘legacy’ fight. Showing no remorse or consideration for the English interim champ, Jones named Alex Pereira as someone who could do wonders for his legacy.

“My goal is to have a flawless performance, a really dominant performance, and to either retire or to fight against possibly Alex Pereira in a mega fight. Whether it’s for the belt or not, I don’t need any more belts. I just think fighting Pereira would be awesome. We’re the same age, we’re the same size. And he has a reputation that I can’t deny. Americans love him, you know. I hear people saying ‘Chama’ everywhere I go. And that’s worth fighting again.”, Jones said in an interview uploaded to Instagram by ‘Championship Rounds’ via the UFC.

“If it’s not Pereira, then I’m excited to move on with life and just be the best dad I can be. A businessman, and maybe even a movie star.”, Jones continued, indicating that he would move on from fighting if he didn’t get the Alex Pereira fight.

Denying ‘Honey Badger’ of a title unification bout created quite an uproar in the MMA community. Journalist Luke Thomas, who Jones infamously snubbed at the UFC 214 press conference, issued a scathing attack on ‘Bones’ – “Yes, Jon Jones is ducking Tom Aspinall. Or, at least he wants to, or that’s what he’s telling folks.” Recalling Kevin Iole’s question to Jones about fighting Aspinall, and Jones shutting it down, Thomas continued – “This is about as text book a case as ducking gets. This is it. This is it – ducking, the avoidance of a difficult challenge for an easier one.” 

Joining Luke Thomas and other members of the MMA community, Aspinall stepped forward and lashed out at the heavyweight champion for ducking the fight. But why exactly is Jones evading Aspinall? Let’s find out!

Why does Jon Jones want to fight Alex Pereira and not Tom Aspinall? 

In the aforementioned conversation with Kevin Iole, Jones pointed out, “I feel like Tom Aspinall, I don’t wanna say nobody, but he just hasn’t proven anything. He hasn’t done anything… So it’s just like, I’m not here to gamble on someone else making a name off me. I’m here to compete against the guys where, when we look back, you know, 10 years from now, it would be like Jon Jones fought this guy and that guy and this legend and this champion and this champion.” 

In another interview with New York Post’s Scott Fontana, Jones declared that he found Tom Aspinall to be quite annoying. He said that if ‘Honey Badger’ wanted to fight him, he should have approached the UFC earlier, instead of targeting Jones while he was on the verge of retirement. “At the end of the day, he has no real standout legacy,” he concluded.

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On the other hand, Pereira has been conquering fights in the UFC like a war machine. Becoming a two weight champion, and winning all but one fight at middleweight, no one in the company’s current LHW category has been able to beat the Brazilian, making him a legit superstar in the organization. After all, his wins over Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr. in his last 2 fights were nothing short of extraordinary. Pereira’s fighting style and legacy are exactly what Jones is after. However, speculations are rife that Jones wants that fight because of his grappling advantage over ‘Poatan’.

Do you believe Jones is justified in his bid to fight Pereira, and not Aspinall? Let us know what you think of the matchup in the comments down below.