Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Light heavyweight title challenger Dominick Reyes is eager to take on Jon Jones at UFC 247.
Dominick Reyes might lose his first ever professional MMA bout next Saturday, but it surely will not be for a lack of confidence.
Just a couple of days away from the biggest fight of his career, when he takes on light heavyweight king Jon Jones, the ‘Devastator’ feels like the ‘Bones’ era will come to an end at UFC 247. And Reyes believes his victory has to do with messing with Jones’ mindset.
In an interview with Combate, Reyes explained he does not care that Jones already defeated light heavyweight legends and some of its top contenders over the past nine years and feels like that lack of respect for Jones’ track record could mess with the champion’s head.
“I’m extremely confident. I know exactly who I am and what I’m made of. There’s no doubt about who I am in my own mind. It’s like there is this unlimited potential that I know I have inside me. What I have now is something very powerful. Now I’ll fight someone I don’t really care about. He means nothing to me. It bugs Jon Jones that I don’t respect his past, you know? What can his past do to me? It’s irrelevant.”
A finisher, with seven knockout wins and two submissions in 12 professional bouts, Reyes agrees that scoring a highlight reel KO against Jones would be a nice way to become the champion, but if he could have it his way, Dominick would prefer to dominate Jones for five rounds and earn an undeniable unanimous decision win; leaving no doubts about his superiority.
“I mean, there is no better thing in the world than a knockout, but a unanimous decision would be amazing, too. I think it would be better because it would mean I unanimously beat him after five rounds, you know? It’s more impressive. It’s like, if you dominate Jones, you won all five rounds. That’s an impressive feat by itself. But I think a knockout would create more buzz for a rematch.”
On a six-fight winning streak in the Octagon, Dominick Reyes (12-0) knocked out former middleweight champion Chris Weidman in his last outing, back in October 2019. Before that, the 30-year-old scored wins over Volkan Oezdemir, Ovince Saint Preux and Jared Cannonier.
Now, Dominick Reyes is expected to take on Jon Jones at UFC 247’s main event, in Houston, Texas, on February 8. In the night’s co-main event, the female flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko, will look to make her third title defense, against Katlyn Chookagian.