Dominick Delays UFC Return: ‘Gotta Take Care Of My Brain’

Dominick Reyes is not going to rush a UFC return at the expense of his brain health.

Dominick Reyes is taking all the time he needs to recover from a brutal fight with Jiri Prochazka.

Reyes vs. Prochazka headlined UFC Vegas 25, which took place inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sat., May 1. The light-heavyweight clash was contested at a heinous pace and ended when Prochazka landed an elbow to spinning back elbow combination that faceplanted Reyes (watch here). In a new interview, “The Devastator” said eyed an early 2022 return to the Octagon.

“It was like two months just to heal my superficial injuries as well as brain injuries and things like that. Then I had knee surgery, so I had to take another month or two for that. So it’s been about four months off. Really not that much considering the damage that was done,” Reyes told mixed martial arts (MMA) reporter James Lynch (h/t BJPenn.com). “But yeah man, I took time off. I wasn’t going to the gym and saying I need to keep training. It’s like bro, I actually need to heal. This is real s—t.

“I want to be able to talk to my grandkids when I’m older. It’s part of the process, man. I could be a macho man about it and be like, ‘Nah I’m good, I’m in the gym.’ Nah, man. I’m healing up. This s—t is real life, bro, and you gotta heal. I’m not fighting until at the earliest February, mid-February. I gotta take care of my brain a little bit here.”

It has been a tough stretch for Reyes, who nearly dethroned former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones in Feb. 2020. His official record will show a unanimous decision loss to Jone — one marred by controversy. Subsequent fights against Jan Blachowicz (watch highlights) and Prochazka both ended via stoppage due to strikes.

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