Dana White says Pereira beating Gane at UFC White House would surpass Jon Jones as GOAT

Dana White has declared that Alex Pereira will surpass Jon Jones as the greatest fighter in UFC history if he defeats Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title in the co-main event of UFC White House on June 18.

“You’ve got Pereira possibly winning his third world title,” White told Forbes. “If he wins the third world title that night, he jumps over Jon Jones and becomes the greatest of all-time.”

Pereira’s bid to become the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles across three weight divisions is the centrepiece of a card headlined by the lightweight title fight between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje. While a small number of fighters have won championships in three weight classes elsewhere in MMA, no one has achieved the feat inside the UFC.

What makes the potential accomplishment even more remarkable is how recently Pereira arrived in the sport. A decorated Glory Kickboxing veteran, he joined the UFC in 2021 with just four professional MMA bouts to his name. He captured the UFC middleweight title in only his eighth MMA fight, then moved up to light heavyweight and claimed that belt three fights later — a pace of title accumulation without precedent in the promotion.

Should he add the heavyweight strap against Gane, Pereira will have won three UFC titles across three separate weight classes in fewer than four years of competing in the promotion — a trajectory that White clearly believes eclipses even Jones’s long-standing claim to the top of the all-time rankings.