Dominick Reyes has worked his way up to the top of the light heavyweight ladder and is all set to challenge Jon Jones for the UFC’s 205-pound title.
But the California native admitted that that while he’s backing himself to be the man to dethrone Jones, he knows that one victory over Jones probably won’t be enough. He’ll need to beat him in a rematch, too.
“You can’t just beat Jon Jones one time,” he told Submission Radio. “He’s been champion since almost like the whole length of the UFC light heavyweight division. Regardless of however the fight goes down or whatever, (if) I win the fight, he deserves a rematch no matter what.
“It’s just not going to be enough. I beat Jon Jones and all of a sudden, ‘Oh, it’s a fluke. Oh no.’ Just like always. It’s a reality – it’s just not going to be enough. You can’t just beat Jon Jones one time. You have to beat him twice.”
Those comments offer a glimpse into Reyes’ mindset heading into the contest, as he looks to break out of the shadows and prove to the world just how good he is. He thinks his skills haven’t yet been fully acknowledged, either by the fans or by the UFC, which he thinks wanted Chris Weidman to be the next to challenge Jones.
Reyes said he was a little irked by what he thought was a concerted push by the UFC to position the former middleweight champion for a possible shot at Jones, and spoke of his satisfaction of halting those supposed plans with his first-round finish of Weidman at UFC on ESPN 6 in Boston in October.
“I knew it – I knew it the whole time,” he said. “I was like, ‘All right, it’s cool, keep underestimating me. All right, that’s fine. See what happens to your boy. Watch what happens to your boy and then talk to me after the fight.’ That’s how I felt about that one.
“I knew the stakes. I knew what I was in for, and I knew what he brought to the table – and I knew I was better, so I agreed to the fight. And as they started to hype up Chris and Jon, the whole deal, I was like, ‘All right, I see you. Watch.
“It was like, ‘Watch this, and then you’ll really know the truth.’ So, for me it was just like a little more fire, ’cause nobody likes to be disrespected, especially fighters – especially myself. And when you feel like you are kind of being disrespected, that adds a little bit more.”
The victory pushed Reyes into the top contender’s spot for a shot at Jones at UFC 247 on Feb. 8, and kicked off the back-and-forth between the two fighters. Reyes said Jones’ attempts to wind him up came across as a little immature to him.
“His trash talk is brother trash talk,” he explained. “I have brothers, he has brothers. You know when you have a bunch of brothers and you guys are all around and it’s competition there constantly? It’s little jabs, it’s little shots about their biggest insecurities just to mess with them and get them mad, and then they do something and you’re like, ‘Mom!’ It’s the same thing, he’s like a little kid. It’s kind of childish.
“It is what it is. I just think it’s funny, man, because I don’t care. I don’t give a (expletive) what that guy says to me. I don’t care at all what he says to me. Like, bro, you can say whatever you want. Say whatever you want. It’s not gonna help you. It’s not gonna save you. It’s not gonna make me not want to knock you out. It’s not gonna try to make me knock you out more. I’m not dumb. You’re not just gonna (run in going) ‘Arrgh,’ and then catch (me). Come on, man. I thought we were professionals. Let’s go.”
But while he isn’t a fan of Jones’ trash talk, Reyes said the UFC light heavyweight champion does have respect for him, largely because of the threat he poses to his championship reign. And the undefeated contender said he believes he and Jones will serve up a 205-pound classic when they meet in the main event of UFC 247.
“I think he’s treating me with a lot of respect. I think he knows how dangerous I am. I think he knows,” Reyes said. “He’s not taking this fight lightly, man – he’s not. No matter what he says, I’m one of his most dangerous opponents in a while. Thiago was pretty dangerous, and Thiago went out there and fought, but he didn’t have nearly the reach that I have. So I think this is going to be very similar to the (Alexander Gustafsson vs.) Jones 1 (fight).”
Dominick Reyes says one win won't be enough against Jon Jones: 'You have to beat him twice'