UFC Pound-for-Pound Rankings: Did Alex Pereira Surpass Jon Jones After UFC 303?

Dana White has been fighting reporters to prove that Jon Jones is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the current UFC roster. However, a few recent reports revealed that ‘Bones’ has lost his spot on their UFC pound-for-pound fighters rankings list to Alex Pereira. This changeover took place after ‘Poatan’ decimated his UFC 303 rival, Jiri Prochazka, dominantly on June 29.

Pereira has been stunning UFC fans with his superb in-octagon displays ever since his move to the light heavyweight division. The Brazilian has also defended his title two times to date despite capturing it in November 2023. All of this got fans hailing Pereira’s in-octagon prowess and boosted his stature to one of the biggest stars in the current UFC roster.

The UFC may have refrained from making any changes to their UFC pound-for-pound fighters rankings. But an ‘X’ update from ‘ESPN MMA’ revealed that they had awarded the #2 spot on their list to ‘Poatan’ by demoting ‘Bones’ to the #3 spot.

“Alex Pereira has jumped two spots and is now No. 2 on the UFC’s men’s pound-for-pound rankings after #UFC303″

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

Despite Dana White’s support for ‘Bones’, fans have been arguing that he shouldn’t be over Pereira on the list of top pound-for-pound fighters since he has taken to the octagon just once in the past four years. As a result, most gave the ESPN MMA’s update their seal of approval.

Well, the current scenario also indicates that Pereira might get a chance in the future to prove himself worthy of being placed above ‘Bones’.

Pereira vs Jones will settle the pound-for-pound debate once and for all

The current situation implies that there’s a pretty high possibility of Pereira locking horns with the current heavyweight champ in the future. In fact, ‘Poatan’ even revealed his desire to go up to heavyweight during his in-octagon interview with Joe Rogan at UFC 303. On the other hand, Jones has also shown interest in Pereira as a potential future opponent.

If Alex P became champion of the heavyweight division, would you guys consider him the GOAT? Being back in the gym has got me thinking differently. That fight after stipe maybe the next biggest move I could possibly make. This killer has already defeated so many champions, and…

— BONY (@JonnyBones) May 3, 2024

Currently, Pereira has every reason to celebrate this victory over ‘Bones’. However, the Brazilian might lose the fan support behind him if he doesn’t prove himself to be better than Jones when they meet inside the octagon. Well, a look at the UFC record of these two indicates that this highly touted fight will definitely not be a cakewalk. So, it will be pretty interesting to see if Pereira manages to justify ESPN MMA’s decision when he meets Jones inside the octagon.