Never mind Johnny Walker or Jan Blachowicz — after UFC Boston, Dominick Reyes says he’s the clear-cut choice to face champ Jon Jones next.
Boston, MA — Improving to 12-0 off a knockout of Chris Weidman in the UFC Boston main event, Dominick Reyes has cemented himself as a contender at light heavyweight.
‘The Devastator’ made short work of the former middleweight champ moving up for the first time, but he did not take it lightly. Reyes, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press at the UFC Boston post-fight press conference, said simply that “the harder I train, the easier the fights seem to go for me.”
“I didn’t see it playing out that way,” he admitted, “but I knew it could play out that way. I worked hard, and it ended up going in my favor.”
Reyes feels that at long last, he’s starting to get the respect he deserves, especially with the main event placement. He’s also having fun, which is no doubt important. “That was my first main event. I had fun. I had fun all week on. I had fun going out to the cage, I enjoyed myself the entire time.”
“When I’m an old man, I can talk to my grandkids about that time in Boston,” he said. In the end, the experience “was everything I could have ever imagined or dreamed of, and it all came to fruition better than any dream I’ve ever had about it.”
“I’ve had a lot of media on me, I’ve had a lot of eyes on me this week,” he added. “Hopefully people are relating with my story and who I am, and they can see my skillset now and appreciate it, and I start moving up and get my title shot.”
Reyes called out Jon Jones after the fight, as expected. And he’s not interested in waiting to see what happens with the other contenders. “I do feel I’m the clear-cut guy. The only thing in my mind would be Jon maybe trying to go up to heavyweight. And if he wants to go up to heavywegiht, then lets have an interim title. I don’t know what Anthony Smith is doing, but I feel like that would be a great fight for the interim belt.”
An interim belt would be the second choice, of course. “Honestly I want to fight Jon. My whole career, I’m doing this to be the best in the world, I want to be the champion. I’m not here to just keep fighting guys,” he said. “I’ve beaten two title challengers, now a champion, now there’s another champion I want to beat.”
“Natural progression,” Reyes continued. “I’m number four in the world, the two guys ahead of me have got a shot, so I feel it’s my turn.”
Jon Jones, however, has been a dominant champion, scandals and suspensions aside. Asked how he’d differ from past contenders, Reyes said that “I’d go out there and fight with all my heart. I’d fight with all my soul. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I’m not going to squander it.” The plan, he said, is to fight to the end. “I’ve worked my whole life for this, I’m not just going to go out there and not go for it. I’m going to go out there and go for it. I’m going to be in his face, I’ve got these hands.”
“People don’t got hands like I got. I’ve got precision. I’m throwing lasers,” he later added. “I could fire like that and knock you out. I’m bringing all that. I’m bringing pressure, I can strike going forward and backward. And I got heart man. And I’m not stopping. I’m not stopping unless he puts me out. That’s the only way I’m leaving that octagon not victorious, if he puts me out.”
Watch the full UFC Boston post-fight press conference with Dominick Reyes above!
