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Throughout his dominate run as Light Heavyweight champion, Jon Jones has stood toe-to-toe with some of the best strikers in the game, including Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, Mauricio Rua and Thiago Santos.
But according to Dominick Reyes, “Bones” hasn’t exactly shown that his boxing is all that great, despite defeating every one of the aforementioned standup specialists, among others.
That’s why “The Devastator” is confident he can exploit that aspect of Jon’s game, as he is comfortable saying he has the best boxing in the entire Light Heavyweight division.
“It’s no secret Jon isn’t the best boxer in UFC. He’s a great kickboxer and he has great range and he kicks very well. But he’s not the best boxer,” explained Reyes during a recent Athletes Panel ahead of UFC 247 (video replay here).
“I intend to exploit that. I think my boxing is probably the best in the division, and with footwork and fearlessness, I will get in there and put these hands on him.”
It’s important to note that throughout Jon’s dominant run inside the Octagon, he has yet to get dropped or visibly hurt by a solid strike that put him at risk of being knocked out. That’s not to say he hasn’t eaten some shot along the way, as Alexander Gustafsson can attest to.
And though Jones isn’t exactly scoring knockout after knockout, he has always found a way to stifle any great striker’s offense, shutting down any possibility of getting knocked out. Reyes, though, isn’t going in there to be a sparring partner, and intends to take risks in order to achieve the ultimate upset.
“A lot of people end up turning it into a sparring match. I am willing to go in there and get knocked out if I have to,” he added “You have to put yourself in danger, its the biggest risk, but it gets you the biggest reward. So I am ready to go out there and throw down and bleed as much as necessary.”
That said, many have made that proclamation before, only to realize it’s an entirely different beast once the cage door slams shut and Jones is actually standing in front of you. Of course, Reyes has shown he has the power and precision to turn anyone’s lights out, finishing the likes of Chris Weidman (see it) and Jared Cannonier on the feet (relive it here).
Jones, meanwhile, isn’t fazed one bit saying that at the end of the day, regardless of how great Dominick’s boxing is, he’s not the best MMA fighter between the two.
“He has a tremendous left hand and I’m sure he’s going to work hard on his right hand since I brought it up so much. But my job is not to go out there and get in a boxing match,” said Jones in response.
“My job is to be the better mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. I am very aware that his best counters come in boxing combinations, and I’m not going to give him what he wants. It’s going to be a mixed martial arts fight.”
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 247 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN+/Fight Pass “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
For the rest of the UFC 247 fight card and line up click here.