Dana White said that he thinks Ankalaev will be one of the biggest challenges for Poatan, like Jiri Prochakza or Jan Blackowski were. And that with Alex winning this fight, he'll make Alex vs Jon Jones. That was echoed by other names in the UFC too.
Jon Jones said that he would go down to LHW, Dana said tho that it can be in LHW or if Alex and JJ want, it can be HW. Jones and Alex talked about a kind of special 230 pounds limit with a BMF title on the line.
And that's more than deserved. Whether you like it or not, if Alex Pereira defeats Ankalaev, and both him and JJ want the fight, there's no stopping it, as Dana said. And I think that's right.
Tom Aspinall hasn't done nearly as much as Alex Pereira or Jon Jones. Tim Aspinall is young, and yet, ever since Jon Jones debuted in the HW, Tom has fought 3 times... Alex, in the time Tom Aspinall fought 3 times, would have fought 6x, defending his belt 4x, plus coming from an extensive weigh cut from middleweight that, as per Sean Strickland, made Alex look like death itself with how much he was torturing his body to keep that weight.
Jon Jones has had 30 fights in the UFC already, has had a war against Gustaffson... Jones' coaches said that before the 5th round of the Gus fight, they were going to throw in the towel since Jones' eyes was seriously damaging and bleeding heavily, though they said Jon Jones begged them not to stop the fight, saying that it losing the fight that way would hurt way more than winning the 5th round and defending his belt, even if he had to give his eye away.
Tom even said "Alex is likely gonna defeat Ankalaev. But after that, it will be tougher for him, he has had more than 40 fight in kickboxing against the best in the world and has committed to his training in torturous work outs and schedules to be able to compete and come this far in the UFC... And he's 37 years old, there is no way his body won't be feeling all this exhaustion"...
It's funny, Tom Aspinall himself said that... So yeah, Tom is young, and yet has fought in the same time span, as a young guy, half of what Alex has... And JJ, he has already done it all, as well. So yeah, as Dana seemed to hint it, if Pereira gets through Ankalaev, it'll be Jon Jones vs Alex Pereira. Way more deserving for a clash of legends. Aspinall is very talented, ofc, but he can't do anything if Jon Jones goes do LHW... He hasn't put in nearly the same work and bruises in huge fights as Alex and Jones have. And I think the UFC is kind of seeing it that way too, there is no stopping it in LHW or whatever if Pereira defeats Ankalaev.
Jon Jones said that he would go down to LHW, Dana said tho that it can be in LHW or if Alex and JJ want, it can be HW. Jones and Alex talked about a kind of special 230 pounds limit with a BMF title on the line.
And that's more than deserved. Whether you like it or not, if Alex Pereira defeats Ankalaev, and both him and JJ want the fight, there's no stopping it, as Dana said. And I think that's right.
Tom Aspinall hasn't done nearly as much as Alex Pereira or Jon Jones. Tim Aspinall is young, and yet, ever since Jon Jones debuted in the HW, Tom has fought 3 times... Alex, in the time Tom Aspinall fought 3 times, would have fought 6x, defending his belt 4x, plus coming from an extensive weigh cut from middleweight that, as per Sean Strickland, made Alex look like death itself with how much he was torturing his body to keep that weight.
Jon Jones has had 30 fights in the UFC already, has had a war against Gustaffson... Jones' coaches said that before the 5th round of the Gus fight, they were going to throw in the towel since Jones' eyes was seriously damaging and bleeding heavily, though they said Jon Jones begged them not to stop the fight, saying that it losing the fight that way would hurt way more than winning the 5th round and defending his belt, even if he had to give his eye away.
Tom even said "Alex is likely gonna defeat Ankalaev. But after that, it will be tougher for him, he has had more than 40 fight in kickboxing against the best in the world and has committed to his training in torturous work outs and schedules to be able to compete and come this far in the UFC... And he's 37 years old, there is no way his body won't be feeling all this exhaustion"...
It's funny, Tom Aspinall himself said that... So yeah, Tom is young, and yet has fought in the same time span, as a young guy, half of what Alex has... And JJ, he has already done it all, as well. So yeah, as Dana seemed to hint it, if Pereira gets through Ankalaev, it'll be Jon Jones vs Alex Pereira. Way more deserving for a clash of legends. Aspinall is very talented, ofc, but he can't do anything if Jon Jones goes do LHW... He hasn't put in nearly the same work and bruises in huge fights as Alex and Jones have. And I think the UFC is kind of seeing it that way too, there is no stopping it in LHW or whatever if Pereira defeats Ankalaev.
Wouldn't surprise me if we get Bones vs Poatan this summer and Tom fights the Black Beast for the interim-interim belt or something^^
