If Dana White was open to acquiescing to Jon Jones’ desire to fight Alex Pereira, the heavyweight champion’s performance against Stipe Miocic in the UFC 309 main event has convinced him otherwise.

Jones earned the first defence of his heavyweight championship with a third-round stoppage over former champion Miocic in the headline bout from the UFC’s latest event inside Madison Square Garden last Saturday night. Throughout fight week Jones had created headlines by suggesting that his ideal next bout would be a legacy-enhancing bout against the organisation’s 205-pound king Alex Pereira — and not the interim champion Tom Aspinall — but after witnessing Jones’ decisive win over Miocic, White has ruled out a cross-divisional bout between the two titleholders.

“You know what tonight told me? There’s no f*cking way I make the Pereira fight,” Jones told the media, including The Mac Life, late on Saturday night in New York City. “Jon’s too big.”

He added that Jones is a “great wrestler” — “Did you see how he took Stipe down in that first round? I like Alex Pereira. I like him personally. It just doesn’t make sense to make that fight.”

However, White did leave the door ajar for the Jones-Pereira fight to be made under very specific circumstances, even if he wouldn’t be happy about it.

“If they both want it bad enough and they’re both f*cking hounding me or something, maybe I would do it,” the UFC boss said.

“But it’s just Alex Pereira is killing it. Look at his age and what he’s doing right now, what’s the reason to go up and fight a guy that’s so much bigger than you and such a good wrestler? Money? That’s definitely a reason but just so we’re clear, I don’t want to make any of that kind of money. I want Pereira to stay where he is and do what he does and run the street.”