Sorry Uncle Dana, Jon Jones is not the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He’s not even No. 2.
On Saturday night, light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira added another highlight to his growing reel of earth-shattering knockouts—the latest coming courtesy of a perfectly timed head kick in the opening seconds of the second round of his UFC 303 headliner.
‘Poatan’ was tasked with once again taking out ex-titleholder Jiri Prochazka in a rematch of their November 2023 clash that saw Pereira finish things with his fists in the second stanza.
This time, he got it done with the feet.
As a result, Pereira moved up two spots in the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings, placing him into the No. 2 spot—one slot behind lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and, more importantly, one spot above consensus GOAT and undisputed heavyweight king Jon ‘Bones’ Jones.
Alex Pereira has jumped two spots and is now No. 2 on the UFC's men's pound-for-pound rankings after #UFC303 👀 pic.twitter.com/6QuMXJW36P
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 2, 2024
Dana White Vehemently Defends Jon Jones as the ‘Pound-For-Pound Best Fighter in the World’
During his appearance at the UFC 303 post-fight press conference, White got into a fiery debate with well-respected MMA journalist Kevin Iole regarding the current P4P rankings. Specifically, whether or not Jon Jones belongs at the top of the list.
“Listen to me. I’m not defending Jon Jones,” White said. “He’s been one of my biggest f*cking headaches the entire time I’ve been in this company. The guy hasn’t been the model fighter in the company. No matter what you think of Jon Jones, he’s the f*cking best ever. He’s the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.”
Dana White got into a HEATED debate with a reporter on whether or not Jon Jones is the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world 😭😭
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) June 30, 2024
🎥 @ufc #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/mdy1jPfFpJ
Iole’s hang-up appeared to be that ‘Bones’ had not competed in more than a year, essentially exempting him from a spot in the P4P rankings. White was quick to remind Iole that Jones was set to defend his title in November before suffering a pectoral injury.
“If you were coming into a fight and you f*cking got hurt, that means you’re not the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world anymore? How does that even make sense? That doesn’t make sense,” White continued. “If he was sitting out, f*cking getting arrested, running around, and whatever, you’d say, ‘Well, Jon Jones is inactive’ and I’d say maybe you’re right.
“As an educated adult who knows the fight business, you cannot deny that while Jon Jones is active, he is the greatest fighter in the world. I don’t know what you’re arguing about here. I don’t know how we’re in this conversation.”
With Pereira’s impressive showing against Prochazka in Las Vegas, White appears to be much more open to the idea of allowing ‘Poatan’ to move up another weight class to do what no man or woman in UFC history has ever done—win titles in three different divisions.
Perhaps before long, we’ll see Pereira and Jones step inside the Octagon against one another and settle the debate once and for all.
