Alex Pereira has made it clear, he’s coming for a bigger game. The newly crowned light heavyweight champion is fresh off a brutal first-round knockout of Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320, reclaiming his belt in dominant fashion. But beneath the roar of victory, Pereira had something even louder planned: a callout for Jon Jones. It never came. Instead, ‘Poatan’ chose silence, honoring the recent passing of Jones’s brother, Arthur Jones.

Yet silence doesn’t mean surrender. Behind the scenes, Pereira’s ambitions are clear: move up a weight class and chase history. But Dana White isn’t entirely sold on the idea. The UFC boss has been vocal about his hesitation to book Jon Jones for the upcoming White House card, and even more cautious about letting champions jump divisions again.

Chael Sonnen throws his weight behind Jon Jones vs Alex Pereira

That’s where things get interesting, as during a recent discussion on a YouTube video, UFC veteran and outspoken analyst Chael Sonnen revealed that he personally asked Dana White about Pereira’s push to face Jon Jones! He explained, “So Pereira is doing it correctly and he has chosen that he’s going to go after Jon Jones. What’s compelling about that is that Jon is the right size. Dana gave a resistance to the idea. In fact, he did it directly to me. I asked him on ESPN.”

Sonnen explained that when he asked White about Pereira moving up, before the Brazilian’s callout became public, White didn’t mention Jones at all. Instead, he focused on Tom Aspinall. As ‘The Bad Guy’ further shared, “So when I asked Dana, I am talking about the heavyweight championship and at that time it is Tom Aspinall. And that’s how Dana answered the question, which was to just tell me, ‘Hey, have you ever met Tom?’ He asked me a real question, ‘Chael, have you personally met Tom? Have you been around Tom? Tom is huge. Tom is 260-plus pounds of muscle. And he’s tall. He’s taller than he looks on television.”

Sonnen recalled in the video, “He said, ‘That’s a really big ask to take somebody that’s going to tip the scale at 205 lbs to take on somebody that’s 265 lbs.” But Sonnen wasn’t convinced that logic holds up when it comes to Jones. “That isn’t the issue with Jon, right?” he argued. “But if I’m to take that as very sincere, the only discrepancy or the only reservation that Dana was with is, just these are two different animals.”

Well, the size might not be a problem. But as we mentioned earlier, White’s hesitation with Jones goes deeper than matchmaking politics. After months of uncertainty about the heavyweight legend’s future, the UFC CEO recently admitted he’s not convinced Jones can be relied on for a high-profile return at the historic White House card in 2026. Speaking on the W.A.D.E. Concept podcast, White stated, “He has made it very clear that this is what he wants to do, but I need people on this card that I can count on, that no matter what happens.”

Now, as the UFC looks to close out the ESPN era and step into a new broadcast frontier with Paramount, a fight between ‘Poatan’ and ‘Bones’ could be the perfect bridge between generations. In fact, according to Jon Jones’s long-time rival and a UFC Hall of Famer, if the Brazilian knockout artist wins this matchup, he could cement his name in the history books forever!

Daniel Cormier breaks down how Pereira can “stand above everyone” with a win over Jones

In a recent video on his YouTube channel, former champ-champ Daniel Cormier didn’t mince words. He began by stating, “Alex is 38 years old and probably thinking at this point, ‘How do I go and make another statement that I am the guy?’ Hell, if he went to beat Jon Jones at heavyweight, Alex Pereira, who’s already considered one of the greatest fighters of all time, in the most expedited timeline I have ever seen, would literally cement himself to almost stand above everyone because he would have beaten a former UFC light heavyweight champion and heavyweight champion, and a guy many consider as the greatest of all time.”

It’s a bold claim, but not without merit. Pereira’s resume is already stacked with names like Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland, Jiri Prochazka, Jamahal Hill, and Magomed Ankalaev, with finishes over every name that we just mentioned. If he adds Jon Jones to that list, the conversation about the greatest of all time might shift permanently in his direction.

After all, no one in UFC history has climbed through weight classes and conquered champions this quickly. For context, ‘Poatan’ only made his UFC debut in 2021, and if the White House clash against Jones ends with his hand raised, he has a chance to stake his claim on the Mount Rushmore of MMA greatness! But why not Tom Aspinall? ‘Bones’ currently holds no title as he vacated his crown when he announced his retirement earlier this year.

According to Cormier, “That’s the biggest problem with Tom (Aspinall) yet because for as dominant as he has been, he hasn’t necessarily hit that point where people go, ‘I’ve got to fight this dude because I know that the value in a victory is so great, that I’m willing to take the chance.”

So, what does all this mean for Alex Pereira’s future? It’s simple, legacy. ‘Poatan’ isn’t chasing just belts anymore; he’s chasing immortality. A showdown with Jon Jones wouldn’t just be another superfight; it would be the defining battle of an era. Dana White may hesitate, citing reliability issues or size mismatches, but even he knows that a clash between Pereira and Jones is the kind of fight that can make the White House card something fans will talk about for years to come!