Dan Hooker outlines potential roadblocks for scheduling Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira
Jon Jones is eager to persuade the UFC brass into scheduling a mega-fight with reigning light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. There may, however, be several hurdles in the way of that fight being scheduled, and lightweight contender Dan Hooker recently discussed some of them while talking to Submission Radio.
'Bones' successfully defended his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 on Nov. 16. After the fight, Jones declared that he would prefer to face Pereira Jones' declaration that he would like to fight Pereira instead of unifying the belts with Aspinall. For this reason, many have accused Jones of ducking the interim champion.
The heavyweight champion also stated he would be willing to vacate his title in order to make a fight with Pereira. Hooker, however, believes that would have the opposite effect, and said this during his interview with Submission Radio:
"You see Pereira shoot to be the first three-division champion, which would be a pretty crazy accomplishment. So to take the title off the line, for me, it loses a lot of the reward for the huge risk that Alex would have to take to move up [to heavyweight]. The size would be a difficult thing to get over, the wrestling skillset of Jones and the submissions and the size would be huge obstacles for Alex to overcome. To take the chance with the heavyweight title off the line, it loses all reward for Alex."
Catch Dan Hooker discuss Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira below (18:50):
Dana White shoots down Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira after UFC 309
UFC 309 saw Jon Jones thoroughly dominate Stipe Miocic en route to a third-round TKO win. 'Bones' was finally able to accrue a decent amount of time in the octagon as a UFC heavyweight, with his divisional debut against Ciryl Gane having lasted less than half a round.
After the fight, he expressed his eagerness to face light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira next. Following UFC 309, Dana White appeared in front of the media where he was asked if he would schedule Jones vs. Pereira.
He said:
"No, you know what tonight [UFC 309] told me? There's no f**king way I make the Pereira fight. Jon's too big, great wrestler. See how he took Stipe down in that first round? I like Alex Pereira... It just doesn't make sense."
Catch White discuss Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira below (30:05):