When Dana White seemingly dismissed Alex Pereira's chances against Jon Jones in a potential fight: "Rogan is pushing me right now"

Dana White has never been keen on Alex Pereira testing the waters at heavyweight, despite initial fan interest in a bout between him and Jon Jones. So, during an appearance on Shaquille O'Neal's The Big Podcast with Shaq last year, the UFC CEO explained his reluctance to book the matchup.

While longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan has repeatedly expressed an interest in the bout, even urging White to book it, there was hesitation on White's part. Still, he claimed that it was a fight that could be made, be always implied that it was unlikely.

"Possibly. I mean, Rogan is pushing me right now to try to make that fight. It's just... guys, let me explain something to you. Jon Jones is a whole 'nother [level]. Jon Jones is... I consider Jon Jones the greatest combat fighter of all time."

Not only did he hail Jones as the greatest fighter across all combat sports, White subsequently aimed the spotlight on Jones' psychology, which has drawn a tremendous amount of attention over the years.

"Jon Jones is the nastiest dude ever in the history [of the sport]. And I always say this about Jon. Jon's got a dark side to him, man. Jon's got those dogs that'll rip your arms apart and do all that sh*t. He shoots guns, he's... Jon Jones is a killer."

Check out Dana White's thoughts on Jon Jones vs. Alex Pereira (16:10 and 16:42):

Unfortunately for White, the potential of a big money fight between Jones and Pereira has fallen due to the outcome of UFC 313, where the Brazilian lost his light heavywyeight title to Magomed Ankalaev. It was a shockingly listless performance from Pereira, who is now expected to face Ankalaev in a rematch.

Much of the interest in a bout with Jones for Pereira was the possibility, however improbable, of seeing the first-ever three-division UFC champion, as Pereira had already captured middleweight and light heavyweight gold. The heavyweight title, which Jones held and still does, would have made Pereira uniquely great.

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Dana White is currently trying to book Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall

The only other bout that the MMA world has been clamoring to see Jon Jones in is a heavyweight title unification bout with Tom Aspinall, the division's interim champion. In fact, it has drawn even more interest than the Alex Pereira bout. It is a matchup that Dana White is currently trying to book.

Unfortunately, Jones has always been hesitant to fight Aspinall, for whatever reason, with rumors circulating about his request for massive purses and six months of preparation time.