Jan Blachowicz is not in the Dominick Reyes camp on who should have won the hotly contested light heavyweight title fight at UFC 247.
The Polish contender doesn’t think Reyes did enough to dethrone then-champion Jon Jones back in February. Jones officially outpointed Reyes 48–47, 48–47 and 49–46 to retain his belt in the evening’s main event. To this day, the Jones-Reyes decision remains a topic of controversy, as many think Reyes did enough to edge the all-time great.
Blachowicz (26-8 MMA, 9-5 UFC) is not one of those people.
“I’m almost facing the champion of the division, but I scored it for Jon Jones,” Blachowicz said at Tuesday’s virtual media day promoting their title fight at UFC 253. “It was really close. There was a really small difference between them. Maybe if he had one or two more punches, he would win the fight, but I scored it with my coaches and my team that Jon Jones won the fight. But I’m happy I’m fighting someone like Dominick Reyes also someone who’s among the best in the world, No. 1 in the division. It’s going to be an amazing fight.”
Both Blachowicz and Reyes are scheduled to fight for the vacant title on Sept. 25 in the co-main event of UFC 253. The two were matched up after Jones vacated the belt for a planned move to heavyweight.
Despite not thinking he did enough to beat Jones, the former KSW champion considers Reyes a worthy opponent and is glad to be fighting him for gold.
“I’m happy because I got a title shot,” Blachowicz said. “The title is what’s most important; the belt is what’s most important. Dominick Reyes is a great opponent. He almost beat Jon Jones, it was a close fight, so I’m happy to be fighting Dominick Reyes for the title.
“I don’t care about Jon Jones right now. He doesn’t exist for me. Maybe I’ll catch him later, I don’t care. I’m only thinking about Dominick right now.”
Jan Blachowicz doesn’t think Dominick Reyes did enough to beat Jon Jones at UFC 247
