Dominick Reyes’ UFC career suffered immensely at the hands of Jon Jones. “The Devastator” entered UFC 247 undefeated at 30 years of age having won six straight UFC fights in largely dominant fashion. He was overlooked ahead of his title clash versus “Bones,” but Reyes lived up to the moment and spent quite a bit […]
Dominick Reyes’ UFC career suffered immensely at the hands of Jon Jones.
“The Devastator” entered UFC 247 undefeated at 30 years of age having won six straight UFC fights in largely dominant fashion. He was overlooked ahead of his title clash versus “Bones,” but Reyes lived up to the moment and spent quite a bit of time boxing up the legendary champion. Even if Jones found some wrestling success late, the majority of fan and media scorecards saw Reyes walking away as the new king.
It didn’t happen. The judges went against him. Reyes walked away without the belt and without any chance of revenge, as “Bones” opted to disappear for a couple years before his Heavyweight return. The Californian knockout artist lost momentum and confidence in the aftermath, and those two assets are as important as any physical gift or technical skill.
The downward spiral began. Seven months later, Reyes was picked apart and finished by underdog Jan Blachowicz after looking flat from the first bell. Reyes showed up with a much better performance nearly a year later in his would-be comeback, but Jiri Prochazka still almost killed him in one of the best fights of 2021. No longer undefeated, Reyes was riding a three-fight losing streak, but it didn’t break down too badly: one bad decision, one flat loss to a champion, and a second knockout loss to a future champion in an absolute barnburner.
The Ryan Spann loss was an absolute low point. Against a journeyman Light Heavyweight, Reyes was unrecognizable. There was no fluidity to his footwork or sense of timing. After eating a couple monster counters off naked kicks, Reyes … opted to throw another naked kick and got demolished. Not only was it the worst loss of his career, it was the worst performance by a considerable margin.
Just about everybody was ready to stick a fork in Reyes after the ugly loss to “Superman.” The fighting community as a whole mourned what could have been had the judges made the correct call way back in 2020. When blood clots nearly killed Reyes and put him on the bench for two years, his fate was further sealed.
Or not.
Reyes returned just last year to both the cage and the win column, sparking the gritty veteran Dustin Jacoby in just two minutes. His exuberance at finally getting the monkey off his back was apparent. He followed that up with a one-sided beating of Anthony Smith and just about six months ago, Reyes put down Nikita Krylov with his signature shot: the left hand plant. Suddenly, Reyes is riding a three-fight knockout streak and has deservedly returned to the Top 10.
The momentum and confidence are back.
This weekend (Sat., Sept. 28, 2025) at UFC Perth, Reyes will face undefeated kickboxer Carlos Ulberg, a different kind of challenge compared to his recent three wins. The men Reyes beat recently are all of his generation or older, whereas Ulberg is more of a newcomer. Ulberg has only been fighting MMA consistently since 2020, the same year Reyes’ career went off the rails versus Jones.
If Reyes can keep the streak alive and take out a fresh face in Ulberg, it’s a major step in his comeback. Not only will Reyes have ended the unbeaten run of the division’s hottest up-and-coming contender, but he’ll have solidified himself as a genuine title threat to boot. Though it will have taken half-a-decade, Reyes can largely regain his position previous to “Bones.”
There’s no recovering an undefeated record or undoing those subsequent knockout losses, but another shot at UFC gold would be a good consolation prize.
Category: General Sports
