Dominic Reyes Admits Career-Changing Errors After Jon Jones Fight: 'F**ked Me Up...'

Last Updated:August 01, 2025, 11:09 IST

Dominic Reyes, after controversial losses post-UFC 247, reevaluated his approach and rebounded with three KO wins, now ranking #8.

Dominic Reyes (R) was left flabbergasted by the scorecards at UFC 247. (Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC)

California’s Dominic “The Devastator" Reyes is perhaps most fondly remembered for his war with the now-retired and arguable GOAT, Jon Jones, at UFC 247.

He was on top of the mixed martial arts world in February 2020. After going 12-0 and dismantling elite competition such as Chris Weidman, he earned the opportunity of a lifetime – a shot at UFC gold. However, what happened next would haunt him for years to come.

Most observers, including UFC President Dana White, believed Reyes had won the first three rounds against Jones. The scorecards read differently – 48-47, 48-47, and a controversial 49-46 all favoring the champion. What should have been Reyes’ coronation moment became the catalyst for his career’s darkest chapter.

Granted another chance to become the undisputed light-heavyweight king later that year, he would find himself on the end of a demolition job. Knocked out cold in Round 2 by another emerging contender – the Polish, Jan Błachowicz.

This was followed consecutive KO losses to Jiří Procházka and Ryan Spann, after which the former contender chose to reevaluate his trajectory.

Speaking to Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman on the Pound 4 Pound podcast, Reyes revealed the mistakes he made after the Jones fight that led to the downfall.

“Some guys get in the UFC, they’ll lose their first couple or win a couple, lose a couple, and then get on a streak or whatever. I was streaking the whole time. So when I came out and I lost this decision to Jon, I tried to make changes that I didn’t need to make," Reyes said.

“I changed my team… like why did you change your team, you know? I tried to change my style to be more sitting in the pocket and just throwing hands," Reyes continued.

“I [thought] I need more power. I tried to figure out why I lost that fight and I tried to figure out why I didn’t knock out Jon because I hit him pretty f**king clean a bunch of times. And I’m like, I just didn’t have enough power.

“So, I tried to change my style to stand in the pocket more, new coaches, whole new team, and that f**ked me up," Reyes admitted. “You change everything and you already have it and you’re changing it. Why?

“I went and trained with [Alex] Pereira and Glover [Teixeira] for the Spann fight. That whole thing was another situation where I was trying to find myself. After that fight, I was like, you know what, man? I need to stop all this… I need to just get back to the work, get back to exactly what I was doing…"

And this return to roots is obviously paying its dividends as Reyes has rebounded from his losing streak, turning it into three-fight winning one. All via KO. His recent spectacular KO of Nikita Krylov, reminiscent of Conor’s (in)famous finish of Jose Aldo.

Climbing the light-heavyweight rankings, and finding himself at #8, Reyes believes it is likely he will be challenging for the title soon. He’s scheduled to fight #3 Carlos Ulberg in September and the result will either propel him into contention (again), or crystallise his legacy as a one-hit wonder.

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First Published:

August 01, 2025, 11:09 IST

News sports Dominic Reyes Admits Career-Changing Errors After Jon Jones Fight: 'F**ked Me Up...'

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