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Jon Jones’ coach Mike Winkeljohn is certain we will be seeing a rematch between Jones and Dominick Reyes in the future.
One of Jon Jones’ head coaches, Mike Winkeljohn, says he is confident his fighter did enough to come out on top at UFC 247, and that a rematch between Jones and Dominick Reyes is bound to eventually happen
Jones scraped past Reyes in the main event of UFC 247, winning by a highly debated unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46). The loss was the first of Reyes’ career, meanwhile it was Jones’ third consecutive defense of his light heavyweight title since winning back in December 2018 against Alexander Gustafsson.
Talking recently to MMA Fighting, Winkeljohn broke down how he scored the fight and why he was worried in the first round when Reyes dropped Jones with a punch.
“We lost the first round,” Winkeljohn said “The second round I thought we edged. The third round, we might not have got that round. I honestly had [rounds] 2, 4 and 5. I think 2 and 3 were really close.
“I won’t lie, when he hit Jon with a punch that put him down [in the first round], Dominick’s back was to me and I said, ‘Oh sh*t’, I honestly thought he hit him in the chin, because my view was blocked. Of course, I found out that wasn’t the case, but all in all, he came out guns blazing.”
What’s next for Jones at this point isn’t set in stone. The pound-for-pound number one could either wait for the next title challenger at 205-pounds, which will probably be the winner of Corey Anderson vs. Jan Blachowicz 2 this weekend or go up to heavyweight. Discussing a rematch, Winkeljohn feels Jones will meet Reyes at some point in his career again.
“There’s no doubt about that,” Winkeljohn said. “Jon likes rematches. Jon is a student of the game. We would all put our heads together, but at the end of the day, Jon sits down and says, ‘This wasn’t good, this is what he can do,’ and he’ll be even more motivated. Just like [Alexander] Gustafsson where you saw his performance was totally different.