Jon Anik believes Alex Pereira is chasing “rarefied air” as he heads into his interim heavyweight title fight with Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250 in Washington.
Speaking at a pre-fight news conference, the longtime UFC play-by-play voice reacted to Dana White’s recent claim that a win for Pereira would move him ahead of Jon Jones on White’s personal greatest-of-all-time list. Pereira is scheduled to face Gane with the interim heavyweight belt on the line.
"It's interesting," Anik said, before pointing to how he evaluates all-time status. "I feel like greatness should be judged on championship title defenses," he added, noting that the chase to match names like Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre and Demetrious Johnson remains a tall order.
"If they hung a banner in Albuquerque, N.M. every time Jon Jones defended the title, they'd have 15 banners hanging up. I think in terms of chasing down Jon Jones or Georges St-Pierre or Demetrious Johnson, maybe there would still be work to be done. 'Poatan' did not defend the middleweight title."
Anik also highlighted his broadcast partner. "My broadcast partner Daniel Cormier probably doesn't get the credit he deserves in terms of his relative all-time greatness. It's hard to put this into context," he said, later adding, "My gosh, Mount Rushmore is getting awfully crowded."
"I just acknowledged a guy like DC who was a simultaneous double-champ, defended the belt in two divisions, and isn't necessarily mentioned in these conversations. I think he should be. But 'Poatan' is certainly chasing rarefied air that no one has breathed before, and we'll see if he can check that box."
