Light-heavyweight title challenger Dominick Reyes thinks his UFC 253 opponent, Jan Blachowicz represents a much tougher task than long-time 205lb king Jon Jones.
On Wednesday it was announced Reyes will be squaring off against the Polish power-puncher for the light-heavyweight title made vacant by Jones earlier in the week. ‘Bones’ has since announced he has begun negotiations with the UFC about his eagerly anticipated heavyweight debut.
Speaking to ESPN after the announcement of his UFC 253 title fight Reyes had nothing but good things to say about Blachowicz who he believes is a much more dangerous prospect than the departing champion Jones.
“Jan is a beast by the way. I’ve been impressed with Jan for years. I’ve been trying to fight Jan since I beat Cannonier because I respect the guys game. He is a very technical striker, he has more power than Jon,” Reyes said. “I think he is a more dangerous fight for me to be 100 percent honest. He is a counter striker with a lot of power and has a BJJ black belt. He is very technical everywhere. Jon doesn’t counter striker and has no power and is not that technical, he is just tricky.”
Reyes is coming off a controversial decision loss to Jones and has gone on record countless times expressing his belief that he should have emerged victorious at UFC 247. Prior to that he had a perfect 6-0 record in the UFC and had picked up big wins over the likes of Chris Weidman, Volkan Oezdemir, and Jared Cannonier.
Blachowicz is currently riding a three-fight win streak. The 37-year-old has knocked out Luke Rockhold and Corey Anderson as well as picking up a unanimous decision over ‘Jacare’ Souza during his rise into light-heavyweight title contention.
UFC 253 takes place on September 26 in Las Vegas. Israel Adesanya is scheduled to defend his middleweight title against Paulo Costa in the main event of the evening.
Do you agree with Dominick Reyes? Is Jan Blachowicz a more dangerous than Jon Jones?