Upcoming UFC light heavyweight title challenger, Dominick ‘The Devastator’ Reyes has heaped praise on former two-time division champion, Jon ‘Bones’ Jones – wishing his former opponent good luck ahead of the latter’s expected move to heavyweight.
The Hesperia native faced Jones in February at UFC 247 in his first promotional title tilt, dropping his first professional in a hugely controversial unanimous decision loss to the former. With Jones’ decision to vacant the 205-pound throne recently ahead of a move to heavyweight, Reyes will now meet with surging contender, Jan B?achowicz for the undisputed crown in the co-headliner of UFC 253 on September 26.
Having shared twenty-five minutes with the Albuquerque based look-see-do fighter, Jones – Reyes has thanked the Rochester native on his official Twitter for the experience gained, squashing any sort of beef, and wishing the 33-year-old continued success a division higher.
“Hey @JonnyBones thank you for the experience man, I wish you the best of luck in your journey. I know things got a lil crazy, but I just wanted to be pushed beyond my perceived limits by the LHW (light heavyweight) GOAT again. God bless and God willing we get to dance under those lights again. 
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Hey @JonnyBones thank you for the experience man, I wish you the best of luck in your journey. I know things got a lil crazy, but I just wanted to be pushed beyond my percieved limits by the LHW GOAT again. God bless and God willing we get to dance under those lights again.
— Dominick Reyes (@DomReyes) August 30, 2020
Jones’ close title retention over Reyes marked his last outing at light heavyweight, following two other successful retentions during his second reign at division kingpin. Last July, Jones took another very close back-and-forth decision win over Thiago ‘Marreta’ Santos, after a March decision shutout over Anthony ‘Lionheart’ Smith.
For Reyes, the 30-year-old looks to return to winning form, for the first time in his thirteen fight career. Earning his first promotional title opportunity, the striker finished former middleweight best, Chris Weidman, before a close split judging win over Volkan Oezdemir, and victories over Ovince Saint Preux, and current middleweight challenger, Jared Cannonier.
When pitted with championship opposition, B?achowicz – Reyes meets a challenge who’s finished recent Bellator signee, Corey Anderson, as well as notable prior winning run wins over former world champion aces, Jacaré Souza, and Luke Rockhold.