Fighter on Fighter: Breaking Down ‘The Devastator!’

Two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight title challenger, Dominick Reyes, will look to return to the win column opposite knockout artist, Jiri Prochazka, this Saturday (May 1, 2021) at UFC Vegas 25 inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Reyes enters this main event in a rather unique — and precarious — position. He’s technically riding a two-fight losing streak, but they were two very different fights. In the first, Reyes largely outworked Jon Jones, only for the judges to go against him. He was given another chance at the belt against a supposedly worse fight, but Jan Blachowicz kicked his ass. Prochazka is a serious challenge, one who’s going to take his head off if Reyes is anything less than very sharp. It’s a major cross roads bout for Reyes, who either heads back to the title mix and severely plummets down the ladder.

Let’s take a closer look at his skill set:

Striking

Reyes is an athletic fighter with a great build for his division, a pair of attributes that are hugely important for success. By and large, the Southpaw makes great use of the fundamentals, which proved enough to nearly topple one of the longest reigning champions in UFC history.

Reyes’ kickboxing game is heavily reliant on his powerful left kick. It’s the base that he builds from, the powerful weapon that reportedly earned him his “Devastator” moniker. As we have talked about many, many times in analyzing fighter strategies, there are few weapons more game-changing than a hard Southpaw left kick against an Orthodox opponent.

Let’s briefly recap: a hard left kick is almost never a bad idea in open stance engagements. Even when blocked, it hurts. Little setup is actually required, a small feint or quick hand-fight is more than enough. If thrown properly, a left power kick can knock an opponent out of stance (leg), shut down the liver (body), and completely separate a foe from his senses (head).

Reyes attacks all three targets well, and he switches it up. In addition, Reyes will commonly throw his left leg as a snap kick to the mid-section, muddying the waters a bit more. Against Oezdemir, Reyes did a lot of work to the legs and body, slowing down the offensive assault of the Swiss striker. In his UFC debut, Reyes melted Joachim Christensen by getting him to block the high kick and then sending a crisp left straight down the middle.

Speaking more on the Christensen bout, it was a great display of the Southpaw double threat. Not only did the left kick quickly set up the knockout by clearing a path for the punch, but Reyes actually hip feinted the kick to close distance and put himself in range to deliver the kill shot (GIF). Reyes does this often, using a left kick feint to shuffle forward and fire his left or actually throw the kick.

The left kick and left hand make up a bulk of Reyes offense (though he has a pretty nice right jab as well). He rarely needs much more. He’s long, athletic, and powerful — there is no easy solution to not getting blasted at range by his kicks and then clobbered in the punching range. Cannonier found some success by pressuring Reyes and fought smartly, but a single well-timed uppercut interrupted his forward pressure and hurt him, and one more sealed the deal (GIF).

In general, Reyes’ counter uppercut is quite nice. The uppercut is a great weapon for when foes are leaning forward on their punches, and Reyes’ height and distance work encourages that habit. Against Jones, Reyes was able to punish the champion with uppercuts as he reached for clinches (GIF).

Reyes’ footwork is a big key to his success. He likes to work from the outside, and he sets traps for opponents that look to pursue passed that distance. When opponents press forward, Reyes likes to either parry or roll beneath a shot and quickly sidestep. As his foe turns to face him, Reyes can blast his opponent with a cross or uppercut.

Throwing power punches while moving backwards is a difficult skill to describe in written form, but it’s undoubtedly one Reyes’ possesses. Look at his knockout of Chris Weidman, for example (GIF). The technique itself is basic stuff: a simple parry into his own cross. However, for Reyes to execute it with such perfect timing while backing into the fence and do so with such power — that’s special.

Reyes’ last two fights are two very different stories. Against Jones, Reyes proved that Jones really does rely on his height advantage to strike so dominantly. Against a more similarly built foe in Reyes, Jones’ kicks were countered more often (GIF). For example, there was a good exchange where Reyes swiped a side kick away to gain an angle. Most of Jones’ past opponents would still be too far away to do anything, but Reyes was able to shuffle forward and kick Jones in the face from that blind angle.

Reyes’ boxing looked great against Jones. He was agile, out-maneuvering “Bones” with angles and setting traps along the way. When Reyes did fire in combination, he looked more natural than his foe.

Against a more burly foe in Blachowicz, the fight was uglier. Reyes’ naked kicks were countered more often by the experienced kickboxer, similar to Volkan Oezdemir fight. As Reyes’ left leg returned to the mat, Blachowicz was chasing him down, pumping out power punches. It didn’t help that even when Reyes was able to avoid the punches, his long torso left him uniquely vulnerable to Blachowicz’s left kick from the closed stance.

Reyes found moments of success with his kicks and pull counters, but he struggled in longer exchanges, which is ultimately how “Polish Power” put him down.

Wrestling

Reyes wrestled a bit in high school but was more committed to football, so his wrestling career did not continue at the collegiate level. Nevertheless, Reyes’ wrestling background has served him well inside the Octagon.

Reyes has scored a single takedown in his UFC career, an effortless single leg against Jeremy Kimball. Kimball forced a wrestling match early, but after switching position along the fence, Reyes immediately put his foe on the mat. The fight didn’t last much longer.

Defensively, Reyes has given up a few takedowns along the way, but it’s never particularly bothered him. He’s not the type of elite wrestler who can immediately deny all but the perfect shot, but Reyes has shown great scrambling and wall-walking. He has yet to truly be held down and punished, which is the most important thing when discussing counter wrestling.

This proved true against both Weidman and Jones. The New Yorker managed to score a brief takedown along the fence early, but Reyes was hardly bothered, working back to his feet quickly by pushing down on the head and working to free his legs. As with the rest of his game, this was an example of strong fundamentals and excellent athleticism proving effective.

Even Jones, who can match Reyes’ physical proportions, struggled with Reyes’ wall-walking. The second Reyes’ butt hit the mat, he’d pop up and start yanking on underhooks. Jones would be pulled up into the upper body clinch, generally a specialty of his. Against Reyes, however, Jones was unable to convert that position into further offense, as Reyes sank his hips back and framed to escape.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

A pair of Reyes’ nine stoppage wins come via submission, including the aforementioned win over Kimball. In that victory, Reyes quickly took the back and locked in a body triangle. Reyes is 6’4,” and it was immediately apparent that Kimball suffered under that length. From the body triangle, Reyes showed impressive control by beating the hell out of Kimball with elbows.

It’s not easy to land such damaging blows without giving up the position, but Reyes accomplished that task and then wrapped up the neck in short fashion (GIF). As mentioned, Reyes has yet to really need to make use of jiu-jitsu defense. The few takedowns he’s given up have resulted mostly in wall-wrestling rather than guard play, and he’s quickly regained his footing.

Conclusion

Reyes is a very talented athlete who has put on at least one elite performance, and he’s still fairly young in his professional career. A pair of losses does not end his career, but it still adds pressure to perform here, regardless of his overall potential.

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 25 fight card this weekend, starting with the ESPN+/ESPN2 “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance on ESPN+/ESPN2 at 10 p.m. ET.

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Andrew Richardson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, is a professional fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. In addition to learning alongside world-class talent, Andrew has scouted opponents and developed winning strategies for several of the sport’s most elite fighters.