Dana White believes two-weight UFC champion Alex Pereira is one win away from becoming the greatest fighter of all time.
Pereira (13-3) will face Ciryl Gane (13-2) for the UFC’s interim heavyweight championship on June 14 at UFC Freedom 250 at the White House.
A former middleweight and light heavyweight champion, Pereira is attempting to become the first three-weight champion in UFC history. If Pereira is successful, White believes he would surpass Jon Jones on the all-time list. White has long stated he believes Jones to be the greatest.
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“If he wins the third world title that night, he jumps over Jon Jones and becomes the greatest of all time,” White told Forbes.
Pereira, of Brazil, was also a two-weight champion in GLORY Kickboxing, prior to transitioning to MMA in 2021. He enjoyed a meteoric rise in MMA, signing with the UFC in just his fifth pro appearance. He won the middleweight championship by dethroning another all-time great in Israel Adesanya in 2022. Pereira elected to vacate his 205-pound championship earlier this year in anticipation of a move to heavyweight.
There is a chance Pereira and Jones could actually face one another in the UFC. Jones revealed his retirement in 2025, only to immediately say he’d come back for a matchup against Pereira. Jones (28-1) holds the UFC record for most wins in a title fight at 16.
The winner of the interim title fight would also line up to face undisputed champion Tom Aspinall, however Aspinall is still recovering from multiple eye injuries suffered in his last fight and his manager, boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, has stated he wants to renegotiate Aspinall’s contract with the UFC.
