Will we see Dominick Reyes vs. Jon Jones II?
The recent challenger doesn’t believe it’ll happen as the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion doesn’t want any part of a rematch.
At UFC 247, Jones and Reyes went to war for the 205-pound belt and many feel that the challenger won the title match, including Dana White himself. The UFC President seems on board with a rematch and so does Reyes; however, Jones appears ready to move on to another challenger.
Speaking with Chael Sonnen, Reyes believes that Jones has no interest in fighting him again because he’s not willing to lose it for less than a million dollars (Transcript courtesy of MMA Junkie):
“I pushed him to his limits. I pushed him somewhere he’s never been. He’s never been outstruck, he’s never been hurt like that, he’s never had an opponent that wasn’t afraid of him at all. … He’s not willing to lose his belt for less than whatever million dollars. He knows that belt is close to being lost, so he’s doing whatever he can to avoid fighting me again.
“He’ll go to heavyweight, ‘I’ll take my first loss at heavyweight, are you guys happy now? You saw me get knocked out by Ngannou,’ I think that’s kinda what he’s thinking. Do everything he can to avoid that to keep his legacy, to keep his belt. Possibly go up to heavyweight and maybe beat Francis and now OK now I can make a run at the heavyweight title.”
Jones has denied claims of being afraid to take on Reyes again and actually saw the fight in his favor. For the time being though, the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion is currently in the midst of a financial dispute with Dana White, with the 32-year-old threatening to relinquish the belt. We’ll surely see what happens to the title in the upcoming weeks.