UFC 247

Light-heavyweight Championship

Jon Jones v. Dominick Reyes. At the main event this Saturday night in downtown Houston at the Toyota Center, two light-heavyweight giants will meet each other in the center of the octagon. When the referee yells fight, the Champion Jon “Bones” Jones (25-1-0) and the challenger Dominick Reyes (12-0-0) will engage in up to twenty-five minutes of martial arts combat. The two warriors have never faced each other before. Both are undefeated, and Jones has defended his belt more times than any other champion in UFC history.

Reyes is undefeated

Reyes comes in on an undefeated 12 fight winning streak, the last six of which were all victories earned inside the UFC. Most recently, he knocked out the former UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman, who was moving up in class from the 185-pound division to make his 205-pound debut. Reyes made quick work of the former champ, demolishing him by knock out at 1:43 of Round 1. (It may bear noting that with that defeat Weidman had been knocked out in five of his last six bouts).

Reyes has never been past round 3

Reyes has never been in a five-round fight before. His last two victories before dispatching Weidman were decision wins over really tough opponents in Volkan Oezdemir and Ovince Saint Preux. However, the win over Oezdemir did not come without a bit of controversy as the decision was split as was public opinion in the media. With no disrespect to Reyes other vanquished foes, outside of Oexdemir and St. Preux, no known names jump off the page.

Two giants

At 6’4”, Reyes will stare eye to eye with the equally tall Bones Jones. But just with all of his other opponents before him, Jones will enjoy a significant reach advantage of 84 inches to Reyes’ 77 inches. That’s more than half a foot.

Record number of title defenses

Jones first won the championship belt in 2011 and has defended it a total of 11 times. He has fought for and won the belt 14 times. His only loss came in a silly disqualification in 2009 to Matt Hammill which no one, including Matt Hammill, agrees with.

With all of his success in spite of a checkered record off the mat, is it time for Jones to face defeat? Will there be a changing of the guard? Or will Jones dominance continue in a division over which he has reigned for the last decade? Six of Jones’ last eight fights have gone to a decision, and his last fight was a split decision victory over Thiago Santos in July 2019.

Prediction

Jon Jones v. Dominick Reyes

Our prediction for the the Jon Jones v. Dominick Reyes fight is that Reyes doesn’t make it out of the third round. Reyes is tall and athletic but Jones has so much experience and his length and variety of striking techniques are unmatched anywhere in MMA. A combination of his genetics and unparalleled striking skills have proven him impossible to defeat and this Saturday night, February 8, 2020, in Houston, Texas will be no different. Before the bell rings to end the third round, Jon Jones will find the referee pulling him off of a battered Reyes and raising his hand in victory after a TKO stoppage due to strikes.

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