Alex Pereira can knock Jon Jones out, says former UFC heavyweight

Former UFC heavyweight Robelis Despaigne believes Alex Pereira is capable of knocking out Jon Jones.

Right now, Alex Pereira is on top of the world. He regained his UFC light heavyweight championship earlier this year and he did so in devastating fashion, picking up a quick TKO win over Magomed Ankalaev. Ever since then, fans and pundits alike have been wondering what could be next for him – and it seems like there’s a frontrunner when it comes to what ‘Poatan’ himself wants.

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Pereira has made it clear that he is interested in taking on Jon Jones at heavyweight, more than likely at next year’s UFC White House card. If he’s able to pick up the win over Jon, then he could well pursue a third world title in a third weight class against Tom Aspinall, or whoever is the champion at the time of his challenge.

In a recent interview, Robelis Despaigne, who has trained with Pereira, gave his thoughts on how Alex would fare against Jones.

Despaigne’s view on Pereira vs Jones

“Honestly, Pereira is a heavyweight,” Despaigne said. “To me, he’s a heavyweight who cuts down to 205 pounds. He has heavyweight power, he weighs 240-something, he’s weighing basically the same as, I don’t know, Ciryl Gane in competition shape. He’s a heavyweight who cuts to 205, and he could even afford to make 185 if he wanted to. He can do whatever he wants.”

“If Jon Jones makes a mistake, you know he can put him to sleep,” Despaigne said. “Not easily — we know Jon Jones’ quality. It’s going to be a very anticipated fight, a big box-office fight because both of them have a big fan base and very strong numbers. It’ll be a very good fight. That’s what I think. Each has their strengths, Pereira has his striking, and Jon Jones, you know, I imagine will try to take advantage of his wrestling. Let’s see who wins.”

Quotes via MMA Fighting