Alex Pereira is still confident he will face Jon Jones as he moves up to UFC’s heavyweight division.

Pereira is looking to conquer his third division in June, challenging Ciryl Gane for the Interim Heavyweight title, having previously held the UFC Middleweight and Light Heavyweight titles. He vacated the Light Heavyweight title only recently as the move up the weights was being solidified, and will be looking to match what Jon Jones has done previously. 

Prior to the Gane fight being confirmed, however, Jones had long been the fight touted for Pereira in his move to heavyweight — so much so that when confronted with the idea of facing then-Interim Champion Tom Aspinall, Jones made it clear that he wanted the Pereira fight and would not settle for less. Jones has since retired from the sport, entered negotiations to return, and asked for his release after being told he was done as things stood. 

Despite all of that, Pereira maintained to Ariel Helwani that he is confident the fight can and will be made. He doesn’t see UFC letting him go from his deal, leaving just one option if he wants to fight. 

“I believe it happens because he has to be released from UFC,” Pereira said, maintaining that the Jones fight will be plausible if he wins his fight in June. “I don’t think the UFC’s going to release him any time soon. So if he wants to fight who’s it going to be against? It’s going to be against [me].”

Alex Pereira explains why he believes he will still face Jon Jones:

“I believe it happens because he has to be released from the UFC, and I don’t think the UFC is going to release him anytime soon.

If he wants to fight, who’s going to be against him? It’s going to be against… pic.twitter.com/duEJsYCDmm

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 16, 2026

Pereira confirmed that he had signed a new eight-fight deal with UFC, agreeing to vacate the Light Heavyweight title in the process, and sees himself finishing his career at heavyweight. He said that UFC offered a deal that made it easy to give up his title, and could get back to light heavyweight if needed, but didn’t see that as necessary for the time-being.