Dominick Reyes is calling for a fight with Jon Jones following UFC Boston, and while not everyone’s sold that “The Devastator’s” a serious threat to the champ, Daniel Cormier believes it will be a solid fight.

Reyes run up the 205 ranks

Reyes joined the UFC in 2017, and since then, he’s recorded six wins in the Octagon to move his record to 12-0. At UFC Boston on Friday, Reyes scored the biggest win of his career to date, as he took out former middleweight champ Chris Weidman in the opening round.

After the win, the light-heavyweight called for a fight with the reigning 205 king, Jones.

Cormier weighs-in on Jones – Reyes

Due to Reyes’ callout, and because he was ranked #4 heading into the fight, there’s been lots of talk about how he matches up against Jones. Following Friday’s card, Cormier was asked to weigh-on the match-up, and the former light-heavyweight and heavyweight champ said this (quotes via MMA Junkie):

“I think it’s a good matchup,” Cormier said. “Dominick Reyes has a good body. He showed he can stop takedowns. I think it will be a great fight between those two. I believe this kid is the real deal. He’s done everything right up to this point. I’m really impressed with Dominick Reyes.”

“He’s healthy after that big fight and Jones just got through his most recent court problems or whatever it was – so why not let him fight?” Cormier said. “(Reyes) has the one key thing that has proven to give Jones pause, and that’s size.”

There you have it. It’s certainly true that since Reyes is 6’4 feet tall, he matches up with Jones in terms of size. Reyes has also showcased that he has solid power and dangerous striking. So, those are other reasons to argue that he could give Jones some problems.

But, some might question whether Reyes’ wrestling defense has thoroughly been vetted yet. He did get back to his feet fairly quickly after being taken down by Weidman, and he also defended three other takedown attempts in the bout. But, he hasn’t faced other top-tier wrestlers during his UFC run.

Then, there’s the fact Reyes narrowly got by Volkan Oezdemir in March. In fact, some observers believe Oezdemir won that fight. So, the jury still seems to be out, in terms of whether Reyes is a serious threat to end the reign of Jones. When you consider Jones has already defeated the light-heavyweights ranked ahead of Reyes, however (Cormier, Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith), maybe we’ll find out in the not-too-distant future.

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