Din Thomas thought he had seen all of it as a fighter, coach, and analyst, till Alex Pereira graced the UFC along with his presence. And now that Pereira is on the peak of his powers, Thomas believes it’s time for him to make much more historical past.
Thomas was a part of the printed group for UFC 303 this previous Saturday in Las Vegas, an occasion capped off by Pereira brutally knocking out Jiri Prochazka within the opening seconds of Spherical 2 to retain his mild heavyweight title. Following the win, “Poatan” actually has choices: He can keep at 205 and struggle a high contender similar to Magomed Ankalaev, or he can transfer as much as heavyweight for the possibility to develop into the promotion’s first three-division champion. On high of that, the person presently holding the heavyweight title simply so occurs to be one of many UFC’s largest stars and one of many best to ever do it.
So for Thomas, the reply is straightforward: Pereira ought to shoot for the moon.
“If I’m Alex Pereira, or his supervisor, I’m going as much as heavyweight to struggle Jon Jones proper now,” Thomas informed MMA Combating. “Jon will decline, however I’d be like, ‘I challenged Jon Jones, he declined. Let the report present that that man declined.’ That’s what I’d say.
“Or, if he accepted, take the struggle. I imply, what does he must lose [fighting] the best of all time, apart from turning into the best of all time? He has nothing to lose. If I’m Alex, and I’m the supervisor, I’m going as much as heavyweight proper now to struggle Jon Jones. Why threat an Ankalaev struggle? Simply go up and struggle Jon Jones.”
Jones, together with UFC CEO Dana White, is steadfast on re-booking a struggle with former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. Whereas there’s a historic facet to the reserving from a promotional perspective, a lot of the MMA neighborhood doesn’t appear within the matchup after Jones suffered an damage previous to their unique spot at UFC 295.
If the UFC re-books Jones vs. Miocic, and for some purpose the latter can’t make it, Thomas can see a world the place Jones faces Pereira as a substitute of present interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.
“He may [take the Pereira fight] as a result of he may nonetheless have his doubts about Pereira’s grappling,” Thomas mentioned. “I believe Jon is extra prepared to take the Pereira struggle than he’s the Tom Aspinall struggle.
Thomas has seen meteoric rises within the sport over time, from Jones to Conor McGregor and others who made vital impacts briefly quantities of time.
Pereira, in Thomas’ eyes, is an enigma. A unicorn. A fighter who has taken the ball, run with it, put up Corridor of Fame numbers, and made probably the most of conditions breaking in his favor alongside the way in which.
“With a view to be good on this sport, as a way to be related on this sport, lots has to occur on the similar time — and I think about it luck, actually,” Thomas defined. “To be a superb fighter — only a good fighter, not a famous person, however to only be a superb fighter, to have the talent set to beat folks — plenty of issues must occur for you. Like, it’s important to have the precise coaching, it’s important to have the precise fights, and also you simply can’t have plenty of accidents. Quite a lot of issues must occur collectively, working collectively to make you a superb fighter.
“Now to be a famous person, plenty of issues must occur for you, for them to culminate collectively prefer it did for Alex on this brief period of time is unreal. I imply, we speak about these supernatural powers, I nearly must suppose that it [might be] supernatural powers. I keep in mind when the final time I’ve seen one thing like this was B.J. Penn. B.J. Penn got here out, he beat Joey Gilbert, after which he knocked me out after which he fought Caol Uno and knocked Uno out — and this was the time we have been the very best lightweights on this planet. He was simply knocking us out, and I mentioned, ‘Man, this man have to be possessed.’ And now I’m saying the identical factor about Alex Pereira.
“With a view to do what he’s doing, as a result of I’ve seen so many good guys come and go and we are able to’t say, ‘Oh effectively, he knew kickboxing,’ as a result of there’s been loads of actually good kickboxers to come back into the UFC, however none come into the UFC with the willpower that this man has, the main target that this man has, the cheat code in Glover Teixeira. He moved to Danbury, Conn., to reside and be below the steering below Glover Teixeira — who had the cheat code that he received from the Chuck Liddell John Hackleman system — and all these items culminated collectively to make this famous person that we received, and with out even talking English. He’s sufficient. It’s sufficient with what he’s doing — from the walkout to the knockouts — I imply, it’s completely excellent and we’re fortunate to be alive in a time of Alex Pereira.”
