LAS VEGAS – UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is ready to add to his undeniably impressive resume.
Jones will take on Dominick Reyes on Feb. 8 at UFC 247 in Houston, and he doesn’t view Reyes any differently than his past opponents who have fallen by the wayside.
“You’re a pawn in this game,” Jones said to Reyes during the UFC 247 news conference on Friday. “I’ve been saying it a long time. Like (Daniel Cormier), like all of them, you’re a pawn in this game. You’re just a piece in the puzzle. I’m trying to be great, bro, and you’re just a part of it. You’re just a small part of it.”
The undefeated Reyes is coming off a first-round knockout of former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman in October for the biggest win of his career.
But Jones (25-1 MMA, 19-1 UFC) isn’t impressed by Reyes (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) and thinks he’s one dimensional.
“You’re the one? You knocked out Chris Weidman. He’s been knocked out so many times. Good job,” Jones said. “I don’t have to knock out people. I don’t have to knock out people. The only way you can possibly win this fight is to catch me with a left. We all know that. I could submit you, I could out-wrestle you, I can kickbox you to death. I’m going to get you. I’m going to get you, Dominick. You know it. You’re a one-trick pony. We saw your highlight reel. It was straight left, straight left, straight left.”
It’s been a while since Jones has been genuinely irritated by an opponent, and he proceeded to explain why Reyes rubs him the wrong way.
“Dominick wins his last fight, from out of nowhere, we’ve never met in person, I’ve never shaken the guy’s hand, and then the guy, instead of being just cordial or being a martial artist or showing a degree of respect, he gets on the microphone, young and immature, and goes, ‘I don’t need party favors; I need the world title.’ That’s how it started,” Jones said. “But it’s all good. We’re here now. He got what he asked for, and I’m going to put my hands on him, and it’s going to be great.”
“I know nothing about him, honestly,” Jones added. “I know nothing about him. I see the games that he wants to play with the insults, and I don’t really care. I don’t really care at the end of the day. My job is to destroy this dude and start focusing on 2020. I’m going to have a great 2020, and it’s going to start off by destroying Dominick. I don’t know what I want to do to him. I don’t know if I want to knock him out, choke him out, but oh, dude, I’m going to get him. I’m going to get him. I promise you guys.”
Having previously admitted that he might lack motivation in facing the un-established names of the 205-pound division, Jones understands that Reyes has a lot more to gain in this fight.
“I do feel like Dominick has everything to win in this situation,” Jones said. “He’s relatively unknown, but that’s why I’m training as hard as I can. I was 240 (pounds) last week. I’m 230 this week. I’m taking him extremely seriously. I watch his fights every single day. Because he’s unknown, people would expect someone in my position to take him lightly, and that’s where guys in my position would fall.”
Jon Jones warns 'one-trick pony' Dominick Reyes of what to expect at UFC 247
