Dominick Reyes nearly defeated Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title when they went to war across five rounds in the UFC 247 main event back in early 2020. In fact, several media outlets (including this one) — along with promotion president Dana White — scored their 25-minute contest in favor of “The Devastator.”
The official scorecard said otherwise.
Following that controversial outcome, Reyes went on to lose his next two fights to former champion Jan Blachowicz and current light heavyweight titleholder Jiri Prochazka, both by way of second-round knockout. That led to an extended absence and rumors of a potential retirement for the Apple Valley All Star.
“I never considered not fighting, not ever,” Reyes told The MMA Hour. “It was just needing to stop messing around, stop messing around on the streets and just get my shit together. I never considered not fighting — I did take some time off, but look at Jiri, he didn’t fight until [UFC 275]. Over a year later, he’s barely fought as well. He didn’t get knocked out, I did, but he just stayed out. I’m looking to take a little bit more time and I’m looking to come back around October.”
Despite his consecutive losses, the 32 year-old Reyes remains ranked No. 7 at 205 pounds, sandwiched between former light heavyweight title challengers Thiago Santos (No. 6) and Volkan Oezdemir (No. 8), though we’re likely to have a shake up at 205 pounds after Santos went down in flames against Jamahal Hill at UFC Vegas 59.
“I didn’t do anything until [this past] October when I went to Vegas and went and tried out Xtreme Couture. I did a little bit of light sparring with Sean Strickland, which might’ve been his lightest sparring ever, but I went back there and I was the heaviest I had ever been. I was like 245, pretty out of shape, but they were cool, man — good people over there. They helped me get my mind back on the game. From then on, I’ve just been training and enjoying it, really.”
UFC currently has one PPV and two “Fight Night” events on tap for October.