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Dominick Reyes is not going to rush a UFC return at the expense of his brain health.

Dominick Reyes is taking all the time he needs to recover from a brutal fight with Jiri Prochazka.

Reyes vs. Prochazka headlined UFC Vegas 25, which took place inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sat., May 1. The light-heavyweight clash was contested at a heinous pace and ended when Prochazka landed an elbow to spinning back elbow combination that faceplanted Reyes (watch here). In a new interview, “The Devastator” said eyed an early 2022 return to the Octagon.

“It was like two months just to heal my superficial injuries as well as brain injuries and things like that. Then I had knee surgery, so I had to take another month or two for that. So it’s been about four months off. Really not that much considering the damage that was done,” Reyes told mixed martial arts (MMA) reporter James Lynch (h/t BJPenn.com). “But yeah man, I took time off. I wasn’t going to the gym and saying I need to keep training. It’s like bro, I actually need to heal. This is real s—t.

“I want to be able to talk to my grandkids when I’m older. It’s part of the process, man. I could be a macho man about it and be like, ‘Nah I’m good, I’m in the gym.’ Nah, man. I’m healing up. This s—t is real life, bro, and you gotta heal. I’m not fighting until at the earliest February, mid-February. I gotta take care of my brain a little bit here.”

It has been a tough stretch for Reyes, who nearly dethroned former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones in Feb. 2020. His official record will show a unanimous decision loss to Jone — one marred by controversy. Subsequent fights against Jan Blachowicz (watch highlights) and Prochazka both ended via stoppage due to strikes.

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Dern wrote she hopes to become a better fighter after the loss to Marina Rodriguez. 

Mackenzie Dern learned a lot in her loss to Marina Rodriguez at UFC Vegas 39 on Saturday night.

Dern lost by unanimous decision, but the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt had her moments in the fight. The second round saw Dern at her best as she secured a takedown and threatened Rodriguez with a number of submission attempts that she was forced to fight out of. Both women returned to their feet after the exchange on the ground and for the next three rounds, Rodriguez was able to thwart any other takedown attempts and outstrike Dern in a ‘Fight of the Night’ awarded performance.

The loss to Rodriguez may have been a bit of a setback for Dern, but the 28-year-old has already vowed to use the experience to improve as a fighter.

“Yesterday wasn’t the result I was training for, but this fight is the biggest learning experience for me,” wrote Dern on Instagram. “Now I have a lot to look back on and fix to become a better fighter! For sure a submission would have been great but to have these rounds for me to work on is such a blessing.

“Congrats Marina for the win,” continued Dern. I hope you guys enjoyed the fight and thanks [Dana White] for FOTN.”

Dern entered the fight on a four-fight win streak. She rebounded from the first loss of her professional career with back-to-back first-round submissions over Hannah Cifers and Randa Markos at UFC on ESPN: Woodley vs. Burns and UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley. Dern then earned a unanimous decision win over Virna Jandiroba at UFC 256 and followed that with a submission over Nina Nunes at UFC on ABC: Vettori vs. Holland in April of this year.

Former UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza already holds a submission victory over current titleholder Rose Namajunas and is now the winner of five straight, but the promotion gave her the Leon Edwards treatment and sent her to the sidelines.

“Thug” will instead rematch Zhang Weili at UFC 268 in New York.

Fortunately for Esparza, the only remaining obstacle standing between her a second crack at the 115-pound title was eliminated last weekend in Las Vegas, thanks to Mackenzie Dern’s lopsided loss to fellow strawweight contender Marina Rodriguez.

Who was previously defeated by “Cookie Monster” at UFC Fight Island 3.

“I think there was talk of McKenzie being in there (title picture), especially with a similar win record,” Esparza told MMA Junkie. “I could see an argument for that and she’s got a lot of hype behind her too and she’s a really great fighter. She had explosive finishes on the ground, so I could’ve definitely seen an argument for that. But with Marina having a win over her and myself having a win over Marina, and being her only loss, I think it really solidified me as the No. 1 contender.”

Esparza (18-6) is pretty much a lock for the winner of Namajunas vs. Weili 2, unless something crazy happens at UFC 268 and the promotion opts for an immediate trilogy. Or perhaps an injury fells the emerging champ, which could keep the division on hold for an extended period of time.

We’ll know more after Nov. 6.

Tyson Fury went to a rave in Las Vegas after his 11-round war with Deontay Wilder on Saturday.

Tyson Fury was seen raving in Las Vegas following his 11-round war with Deontay Wilder in their heavyweight trilogy bout at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

‘The Gypsy King’ won the fight via knockout after dropping ‘The Bronze Bomber’ with a vicious right hook in the 11th round.

Later that night the Mancunian was recorded by his wife Paris raving the night away at a nightclub in Vegas.

Mrs. Fury uploaded the video to her Instagram.

“No way Tyson Fury is raving after going through a 11 round boxing match against Wilder,” a Fury supporter posted on Twitter following the fight.

Fury beat Wilder to close out their trilogy 2-0 (1 draw) and retain his WBC heavyweight title. The multiple-time champ is undefeated at 33-0-1 and is widely considered one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. Fury refuses to compare himself to the heavyweight greats of the past but believes he ranks among some of the best of them.