“I don’t think that guy is scared of anybody. He’s been fighting everybody. He’s demolished everyone.” That’s not some overexcited fan hyping up Jon Jones but Alexander Gustafsson, a man who took on Jones twice (pushing the champ to his limits in their first meeting) and still walked away empty-handed. And now? Another former rival, Dominick Reyes, is reluctantly hopping on the same bandwagon. What is this, a Jon Jones survivors club? The guy who fight fans argue beat Bones at UFC 247 is suddenly tipping his hat to the UFC’s most untouchable champion. So, what’s changed? A little wisdom? A lot of reality? Or just the weight of failure finally sinking in?
‘The Devastator’, slightly snapping his brutal losing streak, hopped on the Gypsy Tales Podcast to lay down some truth about fighting Jones. “The first time he pushed me against the cage, and I jostled the position, elbowed him over the top. It was super clean, and I was like, that’s it.” Spoiler? It wasn’t. Jones, being the absolute force of nature that he is, just kept marching forward. “He is the toughest motherf*er I’ve ever come across in my whole life,” Reyes admitted. “His chin is, man, that uppercut, rotated his whole head, and just, he’s okay. Maybe he wasn’t that okay, but he lived.”
“Jon’s toughness is probably the best thing in the world. I hit him as hard as I could a few times,” Reyes continued, stating he unloaded everything short of a wrecking ball, and Jones? He ate it all like it was breakfast. “At the highest level, there are some people that you’re not going to finish. You’re just not. It’s just not going to happen.”
Took him a while, but hey, at least he gets it now. So after the current #11 light heavyweight contender had turned his fortunes and gotten back on his winning stride, Jones jumped to X (because where else?). “Dominic, when you look back at our fight, I don’t want you to ever question me or those judges,” Jones wrote. “Look at your own heart, your own endurance. You didn’t do enough. The sooner you accept that, the better athlete you’ll become.”
Indeed Dominick Reyes arguably gave Jon Jones his toughest fight in the UFC after Alexander Gustafsson did in his first meeting with the two-weight champion. And much like that fight with Gus, the fighting community argued that Jon Jones lost that fight. In fact, many concluded that ‘The Devastator’ sent Jones packing from the light heavyweight division.
And Jones? Well, despite taking shots at Reyes and downplaying his former opponent’s tenacity, he admitted how the Mexican-American took him to very deep waters. Let’s take a closer look at what Jones said about his last opponent at light heavyweight.
“It was technically a knockdown.” – Jon Jones admits to being dropped by Dominick Reyes
Welcome to the flip side. While Reyes and others are still replaying their losses, Jones himself revealed he was battling something different inside the Octagon, his own self-doubt. On the OverDogs Podcast, the New York native admitted that for a moment, he considered throwing in the towel. “I was fighting Dominick Reyes, and it was in round one. He hit me with a spinning back kick to the face and then he punched me in the stomach, and I hit the floor. It was technically a knockdown.”
And for the first time in a long time, ‘Bones’ felt like he had met his match. “I remember thinking, ‘F**k. This kid wants it. Maybe it’s his time.’” But then, something flipped. “Then I thought about that flying and never coming down, it’s a decision to give up on yourself. And something just said, just as clear as that other voice, ‘F**k that’ (laughs). Not you, not today, not me.” For Jon Jones to remember that moment and shudder, just speaks volumes about what Reyes put him through.
However, these days, Bones isn’t losing sleep over Dominick Reyes. That chapter is closed. He’s the heavyweight king now, and his eyes are locked on something much bigger. A monster payday against interim champ Tom Aspinall.
And the UFC boss, Dana White is moving heaven and earth to make this fight happen, because when Jones steps into the cage, dollar signs follow, right? So, it’s established. The GOAT is not just fighting for legacy anymore. He’s fighting for “f**k you money”. If he’s lacing up the gloves, it better be for something that makes his bank account blush. From surviving a war with Dominick Reyes to thriving in the heavyweight division, Jones has leveled up in every way possible. Meanwhile, Reyes, after years of setbacks, is finally admitting what the rest of us have always known, beating Jon Jones isn’t just hard, it’s damn near impossible.
And as for Tom Aspinall? Well, he better buckle up, because even when doubt creeps in, Jon Jones doesn’t fold. “Not you, not today, not me.” That’s the champ’s mentality. So, what do you think? Is Jones still unbeatable, or is Aspinall the man to finally take him down? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
The post “I Hit Him as Hard as I Could” — Dominick Reyes’ Regret on Jon Jones Summed Up in a Tough Confession appeared first on EssentiallySports.
