Dominick Reyes lost the fight and his undefeated record against Jon Jones at UFC 247. The 30-year-old light heavyweight title challenger was on the wrong end of a unanimous judge’s decision in the main event on Saturday at Toyota Center. However, many including UFC President Dana White believe Reyes actually won the fight. The fighter himself was disappointed in the result but not disheartened. Whilst speaking to media members including MMA Junkie post fight, he said.
“I’m
disappointed first of all. I am proud of myself, though. I went out there with
all my heart, and the goal for me was to make it an ESPN instant classic, and I
feel like I accomplished that today. I do feel disrespected. One of the judges
had it 49-46. Like, who are you? I might want to have a word with you.
“But
other than that, I know I won that fight. I know I won that fight. I was in
that fight. I don’t have to watch the replay. I was there. I made Jon Jones
look like just a man. I brought the fight to him.”
Reyes believes he had at least three rounds secured, however he could have even had four in his mind. So, you can imagine his surprise when he wasn’t awarded the fight by a single judge.
“Yeah, 3-2 or 4-1, it could’ve been either of those,” Reyes said. “I truly believe that, I’m not just saying that. I mean, look at the numbers, look how the fight played out. Those takedowns, how can you even score those as a takedown? He burned more energy trying to take me down. I just popped right up like nothing, and I elbowed him off the break.
“You’re
going to do me like that? But it is what it is. All I know is that I am the
truth, and people saw that tonight. Many people from the top down in this
organization told me I owned that fight tonight.”
Despite
the immense disappointment he feels, Reyes is actually quite proud of what he
was able to achieve at UFC 247, by in his mind beating the long reigning champion.
“Round 1
went exactly how I thought it was going to go, and I’m not going to lie: It was
a little bit trippy,” Reyes said. “I was like, ‘Whoa, this is going exactly how
I thought it would go. Heck yeah.’ It’s just one of those things, I don’t have
big coaches, I don’t train at a big gym, I just work in the dark in a basement
in a sense.
“This is
huge validation. It was the first time I went five rounds in my career against
Jon Jones, who’s arguably the best of all time, and I put it on him. I took it
to him. I feel like I’m the people’s champ.”
“I
definitely want a rematch; I won. And it wasn’t controversial like he blew me
out of the water and I was cowering in a corner sitting on my butt like, ‘Don’t
hurt me.’ No, I was bringing it to him. I’m going to go home, maybe go on
vacation, sit on a beach somewhere, and then maybe sit and talk with Dana and
figure out my future.”