You know which fighter turns us all into matchmakers?
Alex Pereira.
Were not quite two weeks removed from Pereira taking back the UFCs light heavyweight crown and already hes being fancied into fights with anybody whos anybody within a two-division radius. Some people want to see him fight Jon Jones next. Some want to see him fight the winner of Tom Aspinall and Cyril Gane for an unprecedented third title.
Middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev would like to see himself fight Pereira, because if he can navigate the obvious dangers on the feet he sees it as an advantageous matchup. Jiří Procházka would like another crack, but that isnt likely after failing twice already. Natural contender Carlos Ulberg would be the obvious next choice in a meritocracy, which the UFC aint.
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Not when it comes to Pereira.
The one potential fight nobody seems to be talking about for Poatan is the trilogy with Magomed Ankalaev, from whom he took (back) the belt at UFC 320 in Las Vegas. Never mind that the series is now 1-1, as far as public sentiment is concerned, Ankalaev can now recede into the sea of faces at 205 pounds until Pereira either bolts for the heavyweight division for good or retires. Best to Big Ank on his crosswords and let Alex do business.
And this is the fun thing about having Pereira back on top. The fight games imagination runs wild with scenarios of all kinds. Back in the day, Israel Adesanya, Pereiras career rival going back to the days of the Glory kickboxing ring, was always part of these discussions. But were now in the advance stages of Pereiras career, and escalations of any kind dont include backward motions.
Right now, its all about the biggest possibility the gauge of greatness fight, the historic fight, the once in a lifetime fight. And of course, were in a time when a lot of exciting things are about to go down. As of 2026, the UFC will switch broadcasting hubs to Paramount+, bringing the pay-per-view era (as we know it) to an end. Theres a big White House card planned for June, which Pereira himself seems to be eying. That would be big. Only problem there is its eight months away, which is an eternity for a guy who turns 39 in July and likes to fight with greater frequency.
Yet whether its at the White House or somewhere else, the fight to make for Pereira is the fight they should make is sorry, these are the most painful words to type, as they sound to me like dictation from a police blotter, but its Jon Jones.
Jon Jones.
There, Ive said it.
For many of us, that name is exhausting. All the baggage. Weve been dealing with Jones shenanigans for a long, long time. With Jones, its always a lot of red tape and occasional orange jump suits. Its always a lot of drama. There will be late night post-and-delete social media offerings, which will be dissected next day by those who snapshotted them. There will be GOAT discussion, and talks of legacy, and probably a few Im living my best life posts as if to convince us, even if we never said he wasnt.
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The fact that he ducked Aspinall to unify the heavyweight title will become a sensitive topic the old elephant in the room and Jones will likely lash out at somebody for having the audacity to bring it up. This is just how it will have to be to get what would be the biggest fight since Conor McGregor-Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229. We can tolerate Jones tone deafness to get at his transcendent qualities in the cage.
It’s the fight to make. With Pereira on top, and Jones in a dedicated state of post-retirement, idle-active limbo, well never have a better opportunity. Jones will want it because he thinks he can beat Pereira, and thats a key motivator. Pereira will want it because he likes buying his coach and mentor, Glover Teixeira, nice trucks. He also thinks he can beat Jones. Each have ruled the light heavyweight division, one of them being the GOAT there, while the other is currently the champion.
Thats just a subplot, as obviously this fight would take place at heavyweight, where Jones very recently ruled. Neither man has lost his title. And neither need to.
No belt needed. No tomorrows needed. It would be a natural BMF-type fight, even if that accessory is nowhere to be seen. No yesterdays need come into play, though they will be hard to keep out.
Besides, what else is the UFC going to do with Jones at this point? Dana White spent the entirety of 2024 and strong portions of 2025 going around arguing Jones was not only the pound-for-pound king in the moment, but the GOAT in general. Jones was the heavyweight champion who had one job, which was to unify the title with interim champ Aspinall, and instead of doing that he got the hell out. He retired. A couple of weeks later, when he caught wind of the White House card, he came out of retirement to the sound of a sad trumpet fart.
It was all so farcical that it hurt the mind to bother over.
From the UFCs standpoint he may be the GOAT, but Jones is not the most trustworthy of all those in the barnyard. Its hard to give him a heavyweight title shot after he hijacked the division for so long just this year.
So, what to do with him?
Have him fight Pereira at heavyweight. It can be a standalone event, and it checks every box. Jones comes back. Pereira gets the historic fight and tries heavyweight. UFC has a blockbuster event. Jones adds to a legacy that he, these days, protects as his full-time job. Pereira gets to avenge Teixeira, whom Jones beat at UFC 172 in Baltimore many years ago. The UFC turns the South Lawn into the epicenter of the universe.
Partitions come down. Imaginations run wild. Doubts as to who wins fill the pod-o-sphere. Pereira aims one of those Pataxó arrows at the sun, and Jones reminds everyone just what a towering figure he is on the walk to the Octagon. When they face-off, everything else will melt away.
If ever there was a time, its now.