Dominick Reyes has caught wind of Jon Jones’ latest comments directed towards him.
The former UFC title challenger returned to his winning ways last weekend, picking up his first victory since 2019 with a first-round TKO of Dustin Jacoby in the UFC Louisville co-main event. Reyes’ performance earned him an extra $50K bonus from Dana White as well as some heat from Jones after he spoke on his controversial decision loss to Jones in 2020 – a fight “The Devastator” had himself winning in, along with many others scoring the fight for the challenger.
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“What a claim to fame, almost beat John Jones. Got full of myself and literally couldn’t win another fight,” Jones responded to Reyes’ initial comments on ‘The MMA Hour‘ (read below).
What a claim to fame, almost beat John Jones. Got full of myself and literally couldn’t win another fight. 😩 pic.twitter.com/rDENqskxHj
— BONY (@JonnyBones) June 11, 2024
The social media backhands didn’t stop there for ‘Bones’ with the heavyweight champion telling Reyes to accept that he “didn’t do enough” to beat him at UFC 247 and the final bell had rung with Reyes “trying to survive” against Jones in the fifth round.
Jones and Reyes haven’t always seen eye-to-eye in recent years, especially when it comes to scoring their closely-contested fight from four years ago. However, it seems Reyes has moved from their past rivalry, issuing a classy response to Jones’ latest tweets.
“Well, I have never seen that. I got rid of my Twitter because it’s all toxic and then you have people trying to just get at your head space,” Reyes told MMA Knockout on Wednesday. “I’m not a big [worrier] about what people say on social media, kind of guy. All I could really say to Jon and whatever he says about anything, you know, just God bless, man. I hope you find peace, and that’s about it. I don’t really have anything to say to him.
“He’s a heavyweight. I’m a light heavyweight. We did our thing that night, forever in history. It’ll go down as what it was. And no matter what he says or I say, or everything, people are gonna have their opinions on the fight. And that’s, that’s it. That’s really it.”
Despite what he wrote previously, Jones did have some good things to say about Reyes’ successful return to the Octagon, admitting his former rival getting the W put a smile on his face and that he’d even entertain the idea of training with someone he’s shared the cage with.
“I watched the highlight of his TKO earlier and legit had a smile on my face,” Jones said of Reyes’ performance over the weekend. “Deep down I have respect for all my former opponents. I wish the best for all of them. Wish they could just learn from the past and move on. I’d even be willing to train with most of them.”
I watched the highlight of his TKO earlier and legit had a smile on my face. Deep down I have respect for all my former opponents. I wish the best for all of them. Wish they could just learn from the past and move on. I’d even be willing to train with most of them. https://t.co/YlPVr3cbqX
— BONY (@JonnyBones) June 12, 2024
With a rematch likely never happening between Reyes and Jones (as they are now weight classes apart), would Dominick Reyes be down to get some sparring rounds in with Jones, Rocky III style? As it turns out, that’s going to be hard pass from “The Devastator” on the potential training offer.
“No, I don’t have any interest in being connected to Jon other than our fight,” Reyes said, when asked if he’d train with Jones in the future. “I appreciate the kind words and all that, but I’m good man. You do your thing. We’ve gotten this far without each other. I don’t really see a point to start training now.”
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