Jon Jones opines on what went wrong for Alex Pereira in UFC Freedom 250 loss: “You find yourself out there watching instead of doing”

Jon Jones thinks he knows where things went south for Alex Pereira at UFC Freedom 250.

Jones was watching UFC’s historic event, which was held on the White House lawn back in June, and he has some thoughts on “Poatan’s” failed bid for the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship. Pereira attempted to become a three-division titleholder when he met Ciryl Gane. It wasn’t meant to be for the future Hall of Famer, as Gane stopped him in his tracks via second-round TKO.

“Bones” was interviewed by Red Corner MMA, and he explained what he feels led to Pereira’s doom on fight night.

“I felt like Pereira, he came in too big,“ Jones said. ”I think he would have been better off fighting around 230, 235, keeping that speed. I feel like his power would have possibly translated over, but in the fight you just saw him, he was waiting. He was second-guessing things, he was questioning things, and that’s one of the worst things to do in a fight. It feels like a nightmare.

“When you’re out there in front of your opponent, and you know the moves, and you know that you should throw that punch or throw that kick or go for that takedown, and you just don’t. You find yourself out there watching instead of doing. I’ve had it happened to me many times in practice, and I felt like that’s what happened to Alex. He never really got his ball rolling.”

In that same interview, Jones cleared the air on the video he posted on social media after Pereira’s defeat. Jones wore a GOAT chain in response to those who claimed Pereira would take his distinction of being the greatest MMA fighter of all time if he were to defeat Gane. While “Poatan” took offense to this, Jones insisted that the clip was a shot at his “haters” and wasn’t directed at him.

Pereira has been quite vocal on referee Herb Dean’s officiating during his bout with Gane. The Brazilian bruiser has taken Dean to task over failing to acknowledge illegal strikes to the back of the head. Pereira has even called for the veteran official to be fired, and said he plans to tell athletic commissions to refrain from having Dean serve as the referee for his fights going forward.

Do you agree with Jon Jones on Alex Pereira being too heavy in his loss to Ciryl Gane? Sound off in the comments below.