In a recent interview, the former
Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight and light
heavyweight titleholder weighed in on how he believes a fight
against fellow former two-division king Alex
Pereira and a wrestling match against longtime rival Daniel
Cormier would unfold, backing himself in both scenarios.

Jon Jones explains why he sees grappling as the deciding factor
in a hypothetical fight with Alex Pereira

Jones and Pereira were seemingly on a collision course when the
latter announced his move up to heavyweight for
UFC Freedom 250. However, with Jones' ongoing stalemate with
the UFC regarding his future, a fight against “Poatan†has fallen
through.

Nevertheless, Jones cites size as a key factor at heavyweight,
claiming his former opponents Stipe
Miocic and Ciryl Gane
are bigger than Pereira, who previously competed at 185 pounds.

“I watched Pereira train,†Jones said in an interview with AFL
Global. “I see his level of wrestling and it’s way behind. I feel
as if Stipe Miocic is a true heavyweight. He’s a big, big boy.
Ciryl Gane, when you see him in person, he’s a big, big boy. Alex
Pereira is not a big, big boy. He’s a lean guy. I think right now
he weighs maybe 250.â€

Jones believes his size and grappling would have overwhelmed
Pereira, predicting a submission win had they collided inside the
Octagon.

“I feel as if my physical strength would have been too much for
him,†Jones said. “I felt as if the moment I would have gotten him
to the ground, my submissions would have come pretty quickly. I
mean, everyone knows that. I think that’s the clearest path to
victory for me against Alex Pereira. But we’re not fighting. I am a
fan of him. I support him, and I want to see him do well.â€

“Bones†also discussed his approach towards a potential wrestling
match with Cormier, who he's already shared the cage with
twice.

“I think I would have beat D.C. in a wrestling match,†Jones said.
“It wouldn’t be easy, but I think I would beat him in wrestling. I
hear that he has problems with his back, so my strategy would be to
just try to wear on him. Not shoot, not go for the takedown, but
just hand fight, hand fight, hand fight and see if I could wear on
that back.â€

Makhachev will look to defend his
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title against
Ian
Garry in the UFC
330 main event on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in
Philadelphia. Ahead of his first title defense at 170 pounds,
Porrada Training Center coach Ronny
Markes has hailed Dagestan's ability on the mat.

Islam Makhachev's grappling advantage before UFC 330
welterweight title defense

Markes has worked with numerous high-level athletes at his Las
Vegas gym, including Johnny
Walker, Jessica
Andrade, Alexander
Volkov, Magomed
Ankalaev and Kelvin
Gastelum. Speaking to Sherdog, he offered insight into
Makhachev’s grappling prowess.

“I watched him train here at the P.I. against an ADCC champion, a
Brazilian more than 10 kilograms [22 pounds] heavier, under
grappling rules,†Markes said. “It was an incredibly tough session
and Islam only lost by two or three points in that grappling
spar.â€

The jiu-jitsu coach then broke down the Makhachev vs. Garry
matchup, emphasizing that the challenger's best chance of victory
is using long-range strikes and avoiding grappling exchanges,
especially considering how easily the Russian controlled former
champion Jack
Della Maddalena on the mat to win the welterweight title.

“Islam has the cardio to fight hard for five rounds,†Markes added.
“He made Jack Della Maddalena, who’s bigger than Ian Garry, look
like a white belt. If he manages to get the fight to the ground,
he’ll create serious problems. Ian’s best chance is to use his
reach and keep the fight at striking distance.â€

The
Professional Fighters League has finalized the lineup for its
July 31 event at UBS Arena in Long Island, New York, featuring an
11-bout card headlined by a lightweight title fight.

PFL New York is headlined by Usman
Nurmagomedov vs. Archie
Colgan. The card also features several notable matchups across
the main and preliminary cards.

PFL New York: All the details

PFL New York will see undefeated champion Nurmagomedov (21-0)
defend his lightweight crown against unbeaten contender Colgan
(13-0) in the main event.

In the co-headliner, top-ranked women’s flyweight Dakota
Ditcheva (15-0) returns after more than a year on the sidelines
against Denise
Kielholtz (9-5) in a bout with significant title implications
at 125 pounds.

The main card also includes a light heavyweight matchup between
Dovletdzhan
Yagshimuradov (26-8-1) and Simeon
Powell (12-2), while unbeaten lightweight prospect Amru
Magomedov (10-0) squares off against Angel
Alvarez (11-2).

The preliminary card is topped by a bantamweight clash between
Raufeon
Stots (21-4) and unbeaten Lazaro
Dayron (10-0-1). Elsewhere, Jonathan
Piersma (12-3) faces Omar El
Dafrawy (15-6) in a 175-pound catchweight contest, Sean Gauci
(11-1) faces Allan
Begosso (10-4-1) at bantamweight and unbeaten light heavyweight
prospects Moustapha
Diakhate (5-0-1) and Zacharia
Nishimwe (4-0) are also set to collide.

A lightweight
title fight headlines PFL NY: Tune on Friday, July 31 at 7 p.m. ET
on ESPN.

Other scheduled matchups include a light heavyweight bout between
undefeated Khabib
Nabiev (12-0) and Jamelle
Jones (15-8), a women’s flyweight contest featuring Montana
De La Rosa (13-9-1) against unbeaten Tatiana
Postarnakova (7-0) and a lightweight matchup pitting Chamy Delva
(7-1) against Levan
Khabalaev (4-0).

The prelims begin at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT on ESPN App, with the main
card airing at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ESPN.