UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira has had a change of heart and revealed that he will no longer be training with heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Pereira had previously expressed plans to train with Jones, but after Jones announced his interest in a potential fight with Pereira and the light heavyweight champion’s decision to move up in weight, Pereira is no longer confident about his earlier comments.
“To be honest, I don’t think that makes as much sense anymore,” Pereira told Bloody Elbow via a Portuguese translator. “Back when I said I would like to fight at heavyweight, people connected the dots and started mentioning Jon Jones. That’s something that’s been speculated, even if it’s just by the fans.
“So, I wouldn’t want to go and train with him now. If we end up fighting, people will start saying a bunch of things about whatever happens in the fight. I think it wouldn’t make sense now, but if we were to fight one day and then train together, I think it would make total sense.”
Jon “Bones” Jones has been calling out Pereira for a champion vs. champion fight for several months, but fans—and UFC CEO Dana White—would prefer to see Jones first unify the title with interim champion and No. 1 contender Tom Aspinall. If that fight were to happen, Pereira hopes to be watching from the sidelines.
“I won’t necessarily be studying the fight, but I’ll watch it closely,” Pereira said. “Obviously, any heavyweight fight is exciting, and then you add Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall to the mix. I think it’s a very exciting fight, so I’ll be watching closely but as a fan.”
“Chama” is set to defend his light heavyweight title against Magomed Ankalaev in the main event of UFC 313 this Saturday in Las Vegas.
