Jon Jones has shown interest in fighting at the White House, and one analyst thinks he knows who the UFC should call to make it happen.
President Donald Trump wants MMA to be a major part of next year’s July 4 celebrations, which will mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The US leader raised eyebrows recently by outlining his plan for a UFC fight to happen at the White House, organized by his longtime supporter Dana White. A number of fighters quickly threw their names into the hat to compete on the iconic lawn, with Jones notably teasing a return from retirement.
Should the GOAT contender commit to that, one ex-fighter has a “winnable” matchup in mind for his return — and it’s not a clash with the “biggest, baddest” heavyweight.
Alan Jouban says Alex Pereira fight for ‘presidential belt’ would bring Jon Jones back
During a recent appearance on The Bohnfire podcast with MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn, former fighter Alan Jouban became the latest to give his take on talk of fights outside the White House.
While some have pitched a fitting UK vs. USA clash between Aspinall and Jones, Jouban firmly believes the American legend would stand no chance of defeating the young heavyweight champion now, let alone a year down the line.
With that, he had another idea in mind for an opponent whom Jones could battle for a symbolic “presidential” title.
“If there was ever a reason or a way to get Jon Jones or Conor McGregor back,” Jouban said. “Maybe you could put Jon Jones in some type of title fight if he was gonna fight Tom Aspinall…I don’t think that happens.
“What I think is, if the opportunity for Jon Jones to realistically come back — he says, ‘Dana, I want to come back on this card,’ I think he looks for a fight with a guy like Alex Pereira.
“I think Tom Aspinall is the biggest, baddest man on the planet…I think he runs through Jon Jones,” Jouban added. “A year from now? Jon Jones is gonna be 39 or something. Every day that goes by, Jon Jones has less and less chance of being competitive in these big fights.
“I think something that brings Jon Jones back is Alex Pereira going up in weight. That is a very winnable fight for him. They are both around the same weight. They are both at the end of their career…and they would make up a belt. It would be the presidential belt, some type of crazy belt.”
Alex Pereira wanted to train with Jon Jones until fight speculation
Jones sparked talk of fighting Pereira months before his decision to retire, as he pointed to the Brazilian as a name that would motivate him to fight while continuing to avoid Aspinall.
Prior to that, ‘Poatan’ had expressed interest in training with his fellow former light heavyweight kingpin. But that changed once the prospect of a fight arose, with Pereira revealing his U-turn to Bloody Elbow.
“To be honest I don’t think that makes as much sense any more,” Pereira said of his offer. “Back when I said that I would like to fight at heavyweight people already put the dots together and basically mentioned Jon Jones.
“So that’s something that is speculated, even if it’s just by the fans. So I wouldn’t want to go and train with him now and then if we end up fighting people will end up saying a bunch of stuff about whatever in the fight.
“So I think it wouldn’t make sense now, but if we were to fight one day and then go train I think it would make total sense.”