A win over Chris Weidman should earn him a title shot, Vokan Oezdemir like an ex-girlfriend, Dominick Reyes told reporters backstage at UFC 241.
Anaheim, CA — Dominick Reyes has a big fight coming up at UFC 244, and his mantra heading in is “kill every day.” Just like he plans on doing against Chris Weidman in November at Madison Square Garden. However, former foe Volkan Oezdmir has been gunning for Reyes of late, looking for a rematch.
The pair fought in March at UFC London, a close split decision win for Reyes. Oezdemir subsequently bounced back with a victory over Ilir Latifi earlier this month.
Reyes, who told reporters including Cageside Press backstage at UFC 241 that he’s firing on all cylinders right now, admitted that Oezdemir was “the best guy I’ve fought, by far. He came out in better shape than I’ve ever seen him, and he looked phenomenal.”
Expressing frustration at not being able to finish Oezdemir, he added “But I was better that night, and I won.” Moving forward, he’ll be looking to finish new foe Weidman. As to his thoughts on Oezdemir campaigning for the rematch, “he’s upset man. So’s my ex-girlfriend. But…” Reyes said, trailing off before adding “she’s not in the picture and she wants to be, period.”
Reyes also admitted Saturday in Anaheim that he was “a bit surprised” to find out he was fighting Weidman, a former middleweight champ moving up a weight class. “I was a bit surprised. I was. I was like ‘oh, Chris Weidman? I’ll definitely take the fight,’ but I wasn’t expecting the name that came out.”
“I’m happy with the name that came out, Chris. But I’m ready to go either way.” It’s been a while since Weidman held the title at 185lbs, and he’s struggled to compete with any sort of consistency. But that doesn’t take any of the shine off for Reyes.
“A win over Chris Weidman guarantees me a title shot,” Reyes proclaimed. “He’s a former champion, I beat two former title challengers, now I’m beating champs. The only thing left to do is fight the champ of my division after I take out Chris. I mean that’s my projection. I’m 5-0 in the UFC, I’ll be 6-0. 12-0 overall. What argument is there?”
Asked about fighters like Jan Blachowicz, Reyes added “all I know is I got to take care of Weidman first. If they want to fight him in the meantime, I’m busy anyway. You can do that while I’m busy. But when I’m not busy and I’m ready to go, I’m up.”
Watch the full UFC 241 media scrum with Dominick Reyes above!
