It might not be Jon Jones, but Tom Aspinall would be “more than happy” to fight a fellow champ in Alex Pereira.
The UFC Light Heavyweight Champion has had quite the run in the Octagon since signing to the UFC in 2021. In a span of nine fights, Pereira has won two world championships and has six wins over former champions, notching his second title defense against Jiri Prochazka, TKO’ing him for a second time at UFC 303 last weekend.
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After continued dominance at 205, there’s been much talk of a potential move to heavyweight for Pereira in the future, which could see “Poatan” become the first UFC fighter to win a third title. Of course, that’s easier than done – having to fight Jon Jones or even interim champ Tom Aspinall to accomplish the feat.
Aspinall’s been keeping an eye on Pereira for a while, even teasing a heavyweight fight between them earlier this year. While Aspinall has business to take care of in a rare interim title defense against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304, the Brit sees a world in which he welcomes Pereira to the heavyweight division.
“As we’ve seen with me, I’m not shying away from anybody,” Aspinall told TalkSport when asked about a potential fight with Pereira. “So, if the UFC wanna do that, I’m more than happy to do it.”
“As an elite level fighter myself, you can’t help but be impressed with what Alex Pereira has done over the past couple of years,” Aspinall added. “… I’m not jumping ahead of things right now, fighting Curtis Blaydes now, and if that’s what the UFC wants to do one day, then we’ll absolutely do it.”
Aspinall had hoped to unify the title against Jon Jones, but “Bones” is still set on fighting the previously booked Stipe Miocic instead. The 31 year-old is 7-1 in the UFC with his only loss coming to Blaydes after a freak knee injury occurred in their first fight in 2022, 15 seconds into the first round. Aspinall will look to avenge that very defeat in the UFC 304 co-main event on July 27th.
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Following UFC 303, CEO Dana White would speak on the likelihood of a move up for light heavyweight champ Pereira.
“I had Joe Rogan in my ear the whole time we were up there… ‘Let him fight heavyweight. Come on, just do it’. So, I know that’s what people want to see,” White said at the UFC 303 post-fight press conference when asked about Pereira fighting at heavyweight. “We’ll see how this whole thing plays out.”
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