UFC CEO Dana White has given his thoughts on when Jon Jones may return, Alex Pereira’s rise and plans for the rest of 2024.
Sitting down with Adam Catterall for TNT Sports, White outlined a brief timeline for when fans can expect to see two of the biggest names in the sport return to the Octagon. He said:
“Jon Jones had a serious injury that he had to have surgery and he's recovering and, you know, no secret about it, I'm planning on him fighting in November. So, Conor, I don't know when Conor's coming back. When Connor is ready to go, he'll let me know. So I'm not even thinking about or talking about Conor right now.”
Conversation then turned to former Middleweight champion, and current Light Heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira’s astonishing rise through the promotion. In just 9 fights in the UFC, ‘Poatan’ has become one of the most recognisable faces in MMA and has captured the minds of many fans. White heaped the praise on the Brazilian and is still shocked at the ease in which he moved from one sport to another.
“I mean, what this guy has accomplished. You know, I was blown away by Izzy, you know, what Izzy had done in such a short amount of time and then here comes Alex. I mean, it's phenomenal, especially when you think about how fast Izzy did it and then how fast Alex did it and the history that they have in kickboxing and the fact that they could transition from kickboxing and do as well as they've done here is unbelievable.” He continued:
“When you think about, you know, how long these guys were involved in kickboxing and, you know, assuming the money situation wasn't anywhere near what it is here and these guys are now, you know, this meteoric rise to fame and fortune. You know, these are guys that that get it. They understand when they were fighting their asses off for little or no money and now they're making big money and they're smart. You know, you want to fight as much as possible and you want as many people to see you achieve these great things as you possibly can and the UFC is absolutely provided that platform for them. And, you know, they're changing their family's lives, possibly for generations.”
The UFC have a busy run, across multiple regions over the next few months. Looking ahead to the end of the year, the UFC CEO kept his cards close to his chest but admitted he is excited to see what lies ahead, and what surprises may arise.
“The great thing about this sport is like we have our plans, we lay out the year, but things pop up and happen that we never expect. Like, look at this thing that happened with with the UFC Noche. The way that this played out is we've been treated like absolute sh*t for the last 20 years by the MGM and because of that, they allowed Haymon, God bless him, to slide in and steal that date after I had it and I flipped out and now here we are with The Sphere with the biggest, greatest sporting event of all time, which I didn't see coming and wasn't in my plans at the beginning of the year.”
