Fighting JJ makes absolutely no sense for Alex right now, IMHO.

[Mohawk Banditó]

It's not about sense, it's about dollars

That's true, but that's why I think he doesn't fight Jones first.

This is a big oversimplification but:

Scenario A:
Go for Jones first. Low/moderate chance of that even happening. Great money if it does.

Go for title second. If he beat Jones, great chance of this happening for good money. Lost the Jones fight? Basically no chance

vs Scenario B:
Go for title shot first. Good/great chance of it happening for good money (HW champ vs the de facto LHW, (assuming he's stripped for moving up)).

Win or lose, the chances of a Jones fight second probably won't be hurt much at all, so he's still got a low/moderate chance of making that great money.

People talk about "securing the bag," but that doesn't have to mean getting A bag, when the bag can be multiple bags. I think if you ARE gonna fight twice, then securing the total bag is putting off the lower chance and better pay for last. Only way that goes wrong is if he suffers a career ending injury in the first.

Otherwise, just fight Jones and retire on one fight (or zero fights, depending how Jones is feeling)

 

[ricc505]

It's a gamble. The hollow victory of beating a retired, fat JJ, or the loss to one of the best to ever fight MMA. Money is the deal maker, if they offer life changing money I'd watch him try and knock JJ out

 

[humdizzle]

doesn't have to make sense

people will watch and try to attach goat status to the fight. you can't really say jones is washed at this time, he beat Gane about as easy as Pereira beat Ank last week. If Tom can't replicate that its not a good look for his goat resume, especially after quitting against Blaydes because he threw a kick wrong.

 

[fries in the bag]

Jones vs Pereira is the right fight to make, belt or not

I have no interest in seeing Tom knock out Pereira in 30 seconds

 

[Bowel-forged Stool]

Beating the #1 GOAT means nothing ? It's the biggest fight for Pereira at any weight class... and would put him in Top 3 GOAT conversation... beating Aspinall or Gane won't.

Big dog laying down the facts!!

 

[fries in the bag]

That's true, but that's why I think he doesn't fight Jones first.

This is a big oversimplification but:

Scenario A:
Go for Jones first. Low/moderate chance of that even happening. Great money if it does.

Go for title second. If he beat Jones, great chance of this happening for good money. Lost the Jones fight? Basically no chance

vs Scenario B:
Go for title shot first. Good/great chance of it happening for good money (HW champ vs the de facto LHW, (assuming he's stripped for moving up)).

Win or lose, the chances of a Jones fight second probably won't be hurt much at all, so he's still got a low/moderate chance of making that great money.

People talk about "securing the bag," but that doesn't have to mean getting A bag, when the bag can be multiple bags. I think if you ARE gonna fight twice, then securing the total bag is putting off the lower chance and better pay for last. Only way that goes wrong is if he suffers a career ending injury in the first.

Otherwise, just fight Jones and retire on one fight (or zero fights, depending how Jones is feeling)

i agree with this assessment.

ufc brass have a tough decision ahead of themselves.

if they go with scenario b, they have to make Aspinall vs Pereira sometime in Q1 2026,
to make room for potentially Jones vs Pereira at the White House in July.

if Aspinall KOs Pereira (like most people believe he would), then there is little chance for Pereira to fight Jones at the White House.
it would most likely be Aspinall vs Jones.

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

I didn't say the former.
Beating Aspinall/Gane winner means being the first ever fighter to become triple champ.

IMHO, it means even more.

Is Hendo known for being Strikeforce champion ( is 3rd - 4th belt ) or knocking out Fedor

 

[Local Plata]

Alex is old and the UFC is a joke now, it's all about the spectacle fights to bring in eyeballs and money. He doesn't really care, and shouldn't, about maintaining the legitimacy of the 'sport' of MMA. Get that paper, son.

Realistically, Jon should never fight again, the UFC should never do a 'white house' event, and blatant money laundering from foreign governments shouldn't be allowed let alone perpetrated by the fucking president ... but here we are.

 

[thekiddak]

I had him winning the 1st Ank fight 1-3-5 close decision. I’m happy he shut up the Ank/dag sack swingers at least for a couple weeks. But it’s too bad for him he took the loss on the 1st one cause he good be getting the jones and the HW/3 banger at the same damn time

 

[thekiddak]

I had him winning the 1st Ank fight 1-3-5 close decision. I’m happy he shut up the Ank/dag sack swingers at least for a couple weeks. But it’s too bad for him he took the loss on the 1st one cause he good be getting the jones and the HW/3 banger at the same damn time

Could

 

[Last Falconry]

it makes no sense because Jon is a washed-up fat guy who 85% of mma fans are glad to see gone

 

[HHJ]

Beating the #1 GOAT means nothing ? It's the biggest fight for Pereira at any weight class... and would put him in Top 3 GOAT conversation... beating Aspinall or Gane won't.

Beating Jones at this point doesnt mean anything. He's old and he really didnt do all that much at HW anyway. Sure itd be nice to see, but fighting Aspinall at this point would be more relevant

 

[RockyLockridge]

That's true, but that's why I think he doesn't fight Jones first.

This is a big oversimplification but:

Scenario A:
Go for Jones first. Low/moderate chance of that even happening. Great money if it does.

Go for title second. If he beat Jones, great chance of this happening for good money. Lost the Jones fight? Basically no chance

vs Scenario B:
Go for title shot first. Good/great chance of it happening for good money (HW champ vs the de facto LHW, (assuming he's stripped for moving up)).

Win or lose, the chances of a Jones fight second probably won't be hurt much at all, so he's still got a low/moderate chance of making that great money.

People talk about "securing the bag," but that doesn't have to mean getting A bag, when the bag can be multiple bags. I think if you ARE gonna fight twice, then securing the total bag is putting off the lower chance and better pay for last. Only way that goes wrong is if he suffers a career ending injury in the first.

Otherwise, just fight Jones and retire on one fight (or zero fights, depending how Jones is feeling)

but it's a multiplier, If he loses to gane/aspinall there is no jones fight. As a matter of fact it's the end of the road.

Beating aspinall then jones is just even harder, even bigger gamble. Nothing to lose vs jones. But vs aspinall you can lose the jones fight.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Beating Jones at this point doesnt mean anything. He's old and he really didnt do all that much at HW anyway. Sure itd be nice to see, but fighting Aspinall at this point would be more relevant

It would only be for "legacy" like jones vs stipe, of course deepdown we know it doesn't mean anything. Jones isn't the most successful HW in ufc history because he beat the most successful HW in ufc history. It just doesn't work like that

 

[HHJ]

It would only be for "legacy" like jones vs stipe, of course deepdown we know it doesn't mean anything. Jones isn't the most successful HW in ufc history because he beat the most successful HW in ufc history. It just doesn't work like that

Im sick of these "legacy" fights.

Jones needs to go away for good.

 

[jeff7b9]

Prize fighters fight for money.

Guy is looking for a bag

What's hard to understand exactly ?

 

[HHJ]

Prize fighters fight for money.

Guy is looking for a bag

What's hard to understand exactly ?

Yeah it def makes sense for Alex's wallet. Not sure if it makes sense for the UFC, or the sport though.

 

[Hdfi]

I'd say the Jones fight makes perfect sense because they don't have much time left, so it's now or never, and if he wins (big if), then he'll fight Aspinall later.

 

[Hdfi]

Alex has fights at LHW that fans will pay to see. Jones is a very high risk fight with not much real reward.

Do you really think a potential win over Carlos Ulberg would be bigger than a win over Jon Jones?

 

[RockyLockridge]

Im sick of these "legacy" fights.

Jones needs to go away for good.

honestly, I washed my hands jones before the HW move. He has nothing else to prove or cyril "gain" from this sport. People were bullish on the aspinall fight like it would mean something, I never agreed.