Chael Sonnen hints at possible Alex Pereira vs Jon Jones showdown for the UFC heavyweight title
Chael Sonnen believes there is a possibility that Alex Pereira will move up to heavyweight and fight Jon Jones for the UFC heavyweight championship.
It’s no secret that Pereira cuts an absurd amount of weight to make the middleweight limit. As a result, there have been numerous rumors of ‘Poatan’ moving up to light heavyweight after his first title defense against Israel Adesanya. With that said, Sonnen thinks the reigning 185-pound UFC champion might skip light heavyweight and fight at heavyweight.
During a video on his YouTube channel, Sonnen explained his theory by saying:
“The talk of Alex Pereira vs. Jon Jones, it’s begun, it’s begun. Glover [Teixeira] comes out, says Pereira might go up to heavyweight, and then you have people like me saying, well, he is six foot four. Yeah, he could go to heavyweight… Glover set something down two days ago, I jump all over it yesterday, as did Ariel Helwani, and now you’ve got a future Hall of Famer in the division [Robert Whittaker] co-signing the idea, saying it’s a good one.” [0:00-1:38]
Chael Sonnen continued by saying:
“This is how these things happen. You bring them to the public and you get some feedback and then you put on a little childish smile like, yeah, I was just kidding, I knew that, or you start to buckle in and get a little more serious about things.” [0:00-1:38]
Before focusing on what’s next, Pereira is locked in for a highly-anticipated rematch against ‘The Last Stylebender’ on April 8. The longtime rivals met in the Octagon for the first time in November 2022, with ‘Poatan’ securing a stunning fifth-round standing TKO to become the middleweight world champion. Adesanya will look to avenge the loss at UFC 287.
AND NEW ALEX PEREIRA TKO's ISRAEL ADESANYA IN ROUND FIVE #UFC281 https://t.co/GGgkonvLAK
Watch Chael Sonnen discuss Alex Pereira potentially fighting Jon Jones below:
Israel Adesanya plans to ‘give it all’ he’s got against Alex Pereira at UFC 287
Israel Adesanya needs a win on April 8 to improve his legacy. Only one person has defeated ‘The Last Stylebender’ multiple times in his fighting career - Alex Pereira. ‘Poatan’ held two wins over Adesanya in kickboxing before dethroning him for the UFC middleweight championship.
During a video on his YouTube channel, Adesanya had this to say about the pressure of winning at UFC 287:
“I like it because it puts it all on me, and it’s kind of poetic in a way. One life, roll the dice. This is my last shot, and I’m going to give it all I’ve got in every sense of the word.”
Even if Adesanya loses on April 8, he is still a future UFC Hall of Famer. With that said, the MMA community would never forget that he couldn't defeat Pereira. It’ll be intriguing to see which world-class striker emerges victorious at UFC 287.