Alex Pereira Wants To Fight Jon Jones At The White House
The newest two-time champion to grace the UFC Octagon, Alex Pereira, revealed during the UFC 320 post-fight press conference that his intention had been to call out Jon “Bones” Jones for a fight at the upcoming UFC White House event scheduled for June 2026. With the most historic card in UFC history on the horizon, speculation has been running wild about who will earn the honor of headlining the event. Many assumed an American fighter would be essential for the main event, and Jon Jones, widely regarded as the greatest of all time, seemed like the obvious choice.
However, Jon Jones recently suffered a personal tragedy. His older brother, Super Bowl champion Arthur Jones, passed away just days before UFC 320. In a moment of class and empathy, Alex Pereira paused his post-fight interview to ask both the crowd in attendance and the audience at home for a moment of silence in honor of Jones’s brother. The respect shown by Pereira was evident and deeply felt throughout the MMA community, highlighting the sportsmanship that often underlies even the fiercest competition.
“I was going to ask for jon jones at the white house”- Alex Pereira
Immediately following the quickest win of his UFC career, Alex told Joe Rogan in the Octagon, “I had a whole speech prepared tonight. I talked to my team about it, but I got some news recently. Something has happened, so I’d like to give my respect to Jon Jones and his whole family. I want to ask everyone here and everyone at home to take a moment of silence for his brother.”
The MMA community widely speculated that the original speech Pereira referred to was intended to be a callout of Jon Jones. This was all but confirmed during the post-fight press conference, where Pereira told the media, “With all the respect, I was going to ask for Jon Jones at the White House, but with everything that has happened, it’s not the right time to talk about it.”
Despite not issuing the callout directly, Alex Pereira has positioned himself as a strong candidate for what could become the White House event’s main event. Jon Jones remains America’s most decorated active fighter, and while he has grown more protective of his legacy in recent years, the respectful approach from Pereira, combined with his accomplishments and shared divisional history, may increase the likelihood of this superfight becoming a reality.
