Dominick “Devastator” Reyes (12-0) boasts an unbeaten streak dating back to his first amateur MMA fight in 2013. The California native and former defensive back rose through the regional circuit in pure dominance. His perfect record includes first round finishes against notable fighters in the sport including a former middleweight champion, Chris Weidman. The big question is will his winning record extend to dethrone the light heavyweight king in Jon “Bones” Jones (25-1)?
Specifically, what makes him different than the others who have tried and failed in the past decade?
A post shared by Dominick Reyes (@domreyes24) on Jan 31, 2020 at 11:21pm PST
Well, like a few other fighters amongst the UFC ranks, Reyes’s athletic base lies within his years playing high school and collegiate football. He learned wrestling when he was young but he left his home in California to attend Stony Brook University in New York and played defense for the Seawolves. When aspirations for the NFL didn’t go as well as expected, Dominick Reyes went home to train with his brother, Alex. Dominick was already familiar with training in the realm of mixed martial arts stating in an interview with James Lynch that he would cross train in the summer time between semesters.
Taking the same work ethic that he applied in his years in football, the “Devastator” rose through his career and took out a lot of his competition in devastating fashion. Part of his motivation was the desire to be a professional athlete carried the mentality that the “UFC was always the goal.” But his knowledge of the fight game wouldn’t just be molded by his partners at the Cage Combat Academy. Reyes would eventually find himself trying with the likes of fighters the likes of Curtis Blaydes.
By the time Reyes had his first professional fight, he was earning first round finishes. Stemming from his third fight, he had a first-round-finishing streak that lasted six fights extending throughout various promotions including: King of the Cage, Hoosier FC, Legacy Fighting Alliance and the UFC. In fact, the only three people Reyes didn’t finish in his career were Volkan Oezdemir, Ovince St. Preux and Kelly Gray in his earlier fights. Reyes earned a 29-second TKO victory against Joachim Christensen in his UFC debut back June of 2017. He went on to earn a TKO win against Jared Cannonier in which helped prompt the decision for Cannonier to move to middleweight. The win that scored Reyes a title shot was his first round TKO victory against former middleweight champ Chris Weidman.
So once again, the ultimate question is will Dominick Reyes be the man finally end The reign of Jon Jones?
A post shared by Dominick Reyes (@domreyes24) on Jan 27, 2020 at 9:10am PST
Reyes’s style can be characterized as very solid. There’s nothing that’s particularly flashy or stands out about his fighting style. He has good hands, good kicks, solid clinch, good head movement, good footwork and solid grappling skills. Something Reyes can be praised for is his ability to minimize mistakes. But of course that doesn’t make him a perfect fighter.
Besides Jones’s out-of-cage troubles, drug issues, criminal mischief and frequent troubles with USADA testing; he always shows up on fight night ready to expose flaws. One thing that Jones and the supporting cast at Jackson-Wink is good at doing and that’s making a solid game plan for whoever they face.
For Reyes and his camp, they have the task of solving the combative puzzle of defeating Bones Jones. Reyes’s frame gives him a chance at nullifying the reach advantage that’s starched many greats like Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Glover Teixeira and former double champ Daniel Cormier. Reyes looks to match his kickboxing, wrestling and striking accuracy against Jones in order to become the next undisputed champion with a record of 13-0.
A post shared by Dominick Reyes (@domreyes24) on Jan 3, 2020 at 6:03pm PST
Jones vs Reyes will be the main event and broadcast on Pay-per-view from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The main card will begin at 9pm Central time.■
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