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Dominick Reyes recently admitted to using footage of Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones while training for his fight against 'Bones' in 2020.
UFC 276 was not only a huge event for the fighters on the card. The night before saw fighters such as Daniel Cormier and Khabib Nurmagomedov get inducted into the UFC's Hall of Fame.
While backstage, Ryan Clark, Cormier's friend and co-host of the 'DC & RC' show, asked fighters for their thoughts on the newly inducted Daniel Cormier.
Clarke spoke to Dominick Reyes, who praised Cormier and revealed he footage of 'DC's fights against Jon Jones inspired him:
"He proved a lot of people wrong. His toughness and tenacity was crazy, man. Watching him fight Jon [Jones], it was awesome. I used a lot of DC's [Daniel Cormier] film when I was preparing to fight Jon. I was able to see the holes in his game. DC would do things without even realizing it to make Jon freeze and I used a lot of those same things. DC probably doesn't even know."
Although 'The Devastator' lost the fight, it was arguably much closer than the unanimous decision victory for Jones suggests. Many fight fans believe Reyes did enough in rounds 1, 2 and 3 to secure the win. Despite coming up short, the 32-year-old proved to be a much tougher test in the octagon than many initially gave him credit for.
Catch Dominick Reyes praising Daniel Cormier here:
Dominick Reyes ready to return to the light heavyweight division
Dominick Reyes has endured several recent struggles in the octagon.
'Bones' vacated the light heavyweight title the same year he defeated Reyes. 'The Devasator' then stepped back into the octagon and faced Jan Blachowicz for the vacant 205lb strap.
Dominick Reyes looked off his game in round one and was eventually TKO'd by the Polish fighter in the second round.
Following almost a year away from the sport, the California-born fighter returned to face the division's biggest up-and-comer, Jiri Prochazka. The two men produced an all-out war that saw Prochazka hit a stunning spinning back elbow that KO'd Reyes. They were awarded a Fight of the Night bonus.
Now, over a year later, Reyes has confirmed he's been sitting on the sidelines for too long:
"Not gonna lie, It's been very motivating and a lil tough watching the UFC these last few months. I've only fought the best, I'm a down a** mfer, and I have seen the errors of my ways. I have been through my crucible time to fight my way back to the top."
Despite a year away from the sport, Reyes has remained ranked inside the division's top 10. Should the American be interested in making another run at the title, there are certainly a large number of fighters willing and able to take a fight with the former contender.
