UFC CEO Dana White has ignited another heated debate after making a bold claim about Alex Pereira’s place in MMA history.
Pereira is set to make history this Sunday when he moves up to heavyweight to face Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title at UFC Freedom 250 on the White House lawn. After previously capturing UFC gold at middleweight and light heavyweight, “Poatan” now has a chance to become the promotion’s first-ever three-division champion.
If he accomplishes that feat, Dana White believes Pereira deserves to be recognized as the greatest fighter in UFC history.
“If he wins the third world title that night, he jumps over Jon Jones and becomes the greatest of all time,” White said during an interview with Forbes.
The statement immediately generated backlash across the MMA community.For years, White consistently referred to Jon Jones as the greatest fighter of all time. However, their relationship has appeared strained in recent months after Jones was left off the UFC Freedom 250 card.
Not everyone agrees with White’s assessment. Former UFC welterweight contender Matt Brown believes the UFC boss is simply doing his job as a promoter.
“It’s promoter talk,” Brown said during an episode of MMA Fighting’s The Fighter vs. The Writer podcast.
“It’s pretty simple, and we can just narrow it down to that, and that’s Dana talking what he’s supposed to talk.”
Brown went even further, suggesting that few knowledgeable fans genuinely believe Pereira would surpass Jones with a victory over Gane.
“No one’s really buying it,” Brown continued. “Maybe some Brazilian fan of Alex Pereira that doesn’t really watch UFC is buying it.”
“I don’t think any halfway knowledgeable person is buying it.”
Many fans share Brown’s opinion. Some argue that Pereira cannot claim true three-division greatness until he defeats undisputed heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, who currently sits atop the division.
Aspinall has been sidelined since October after suffering a serious eye injury that required multiple surgeries following his title defense against Gane. The expectation remains that he will face the winner of Pereira vs. Gane later this year.
Meanwhile, UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier also pushed back against Dana White’s GOAT declaration.
Cormier acknowledged that becoming a three-division champion would be a remarkable achievement but believes Pereira still needs more accomplishments before entering the top spot in the all-time discussion.
“Alex just asked me that directly, and he’s big now, so it’s a hard question to answer in front of him when he’s that big,” Cormier said with a laugh. “And I actually told him no, I don’t think he would be the greatest just yet.”
Cormier explained that Pereira would need to successfully defend a heavyweight title before he could be placed ahead of some of the sport’s all-time greats.
“He would need to defend the championship at heavyweight,” Cormier said. “He’s defended three times at light heavyweight, fought for that title a lot of times, and I think he needs more work.”
“But I do believe being a three-division champion is one of the greatest accomplishments. But to put him over Georges St-Pierre or Khabib Nurmagomedov? I don’t think quite yet. Jon Jones, you know how I feel about that, so…”
While opinions remain divided, one thing is certain: Pereira has an opportunity to make history this weekend.
