dominick Reyes failed to pick up the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship at UFC 253. Coming off a spectacular performance against Jon Jones, Reyes failed the test against Jan Blachowicz.
The Polish Power was coming off a KO win over UFC veteran Corey Anderson and looked in great shape ahead of the match-up. Jan Blachowicz picked up a brutal TKO win over Dominic Reyes in the co-main event of UFC 253 to become the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. In the process, he became the first fighter to hold the Light Heavyweight Championship in over 9 years after Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier.
Dominick Reyes was seen as a favorite going into this fight. With notable victories over Chris Weidman, Jared Cannonier, and Ovince Saint Preux, among others, Dominick Reyes put his name on notice after an impeccable performance against then light-heavyweight Champion Jon Jones at UFC 248.
While Jon Jones picked up a controversial unanimous decision win over Reyes, many fight fans believe that Dominick Reyes did enough to hand Jones in his loss. Leading into the fight, it was expected Reyes would triumph over UFC veteran Jan Blachowicz. However, after everything was said and done, Polish Power proved to be too much for Reyes who suffered his second straight loss inside the octagon.
Dominick Reyes should fight Aleksandar Rakic next
Aleksandar Rakic looked brilliant in his last outing inside the octagon against former title contender Anthony Smith. While the rankings are bound to shuffle, Aleksandar Rakic is currently ranked #5 in the UFC Light Heavyweight rankings. Rakic has looked spectacular in his last few fights, and with a dominant performance against Anthony Smith, he has cemented himself as a top contender in the division. With Thiago Santos set to take on Glover Texeira at some point, it makes sense for Dominick Reyes to take on Aleksandar Rakic to jump back to winning ways with a statement.
Speaking about his title loss to Jan Blachowicz, Dominick Reyes reflected on his performance and shared his thoughts on what went wrong leading to his first stoppage loss inside the octagon.
“Well (expletive)! Gotta pull the trigger!!! Nothing left to do but get back up. Congrats to Jan, hell of a performance.#UFC253 #justgettingstarted” Reyes captioned.
Dominick Reyes has what it takes to beat the best in the division. He put up an incredible performance against arguably the greatest light-heavyweight fighter of all time. With incredible power in his hands and solid counter-punching, Reyes will look to come back stronger in his next fight.
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