Alex Pereira confirms his decision on fighting Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall after UFC 307 – and fans will be disappointed

Alex Pereira says he will choose to defend his light-heavyweight title rather than move divisions should be beat Khalil Rountree Jr.

The Brazilian, who is in action at UFC 307 on Saturday night, is the current light-heavyweight champion but he has previously had success at the summit of the middleweight division.

Pereira was the ninth UFC two-weight champion@alexpoatanpereira - instagram

Many MMA fans have dreamt of Pereira making the move up to heavyweight to fight Jon Jones.

Both men reside at the top of the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings behind lightweight Islam Makhachev, who is in first.

Tom Aspinall is the current interim champion of the heavyweight division, which he won from Sergei Pavlovich last November when Jones was out injured.

The natural progression for Aspinall would be to fight ‘Bones’ next to unify the heavyweight division. However, Jones has hinted at retirement after his rescheduled fight with Stipe Miocic for UFC 309 in November.

Pereira faces no.8 ranked Rountree Jr in Salt Lake City, Utah, this Saturday.

Speaking at the UFC’s official Main Event Media Day, Pereira laid out his thoughts on the division he wishes to fight in.

“I would actually choose to defend my belt,” he told members of the media.

“For me to go to a lower weight class, it would take some time, [I would] need some preparation.

“For me to go to a higher weight class, it also takes more preparation. So, right now, the way it is at heavyweight is perfect.”

Pereira actually bumped into Jones at the Las Vegas Sphere for UFC 306, which saw Sean O’Malley drop his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili.

Jones vs Pereira would be the ultimate heavyweight fight

The Brazilian confirmed he talked to the UFC veteran about meeting, but it was to train rather than fight in order to gain valuable experience.  

“I was only thinking about training because Jon said his last fight [against Miocic] may be his last fight,” Pereira added during the media day.

“So, I want to go over there and learn a little bit from him. I’m a guy that has an open mind and I think it will be great.”

talkSPORT.com has you covered for all things UFC 307, with the main event starting at around 3am for UK fans.

Women’s bantamweight champion Raquel ‘Rocky’ Pennington defends her belt against former champ Julianna Pena for the co-main event.

Jose Aldo, Kevin Holland and Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson also feature on the stacked main event card.