Volkan Oezdemir Weighs-in on Jon Jones – Dominick Reyes, Says Challenger Will Bring “Different Style”

Volkan Oezdemir believes Dominick Reyes is going to present a different challenge for Jon Jones at 247, but “No Time” doesn’t see the light-heavyweight crown moving to a new head.

Oezdemir weighs-in on Jones vs. Reyes

Recently it was announced that Reyes will be the next man to challenge Jones, as the two will battle at UFC 247, February 8th in Houston. Reyes has been tapped for the title shot, following his quick KO win over Chris Weidman in October. That victory moved Reyes’ record to 12-0, which includes a razor thin, split decision win over Oezdemir this past March.

Well, recently Oezdemir spoke with MMA Junkie, and when asked to comment on Jones – Reyes, the contender said this:

“He’s going to bring a different style to the Jon Jones puzzle,” Oezdemir said. “Santos was really close to beating Jon Jones, plus he was on one leg, and one really wobbly leg. His leg was – what did he have? ACL tear and meniscus tear he got in the first round of the fight – and even with this, he posed a lot of problems to Jon Jones. So it might be interesting to see what Reyes can do.”

“I think the thing now also with Jon Jones is, don’t come to the Jon Jones fight and be one-dimensional,” Oezdemir said. “You have to surprise him and do a lot of different stuff. If you come there and just be a striker, then Jones will have a perfect game plan against you. Let’s see what Reyes will offer to Jones. I still see Jon Jones winning the fight.”

Yup. This seems to be the consensus of how the fight will go. Due to Reyes’ height, reach and power, there’s no doubt that Jones would be wise to take the challenger, very, very seriously. But, due to Jones’ comprehensive game and athletic abilities, and because Reyes is primarily a striker, “Bones” is a sizeable favorite to win the fight (some betting lines have Jones as a -500 favorite).

Oezdemir’s next fight

Oezdemir (16-4) is looking to build on a second round, knockout win over Ilir Latifi in August, as he’s booked to fight rising contender Aleksander Rakic (12-1), December 21st. That’s a fight that has the potential to be outstanding.

Here is the line-up to date for UFC Busan (via MMA Junkie).

Main Card (ESPN+, 5 a.m. ET)

Frankie Edgar vs. Chan Sung Jung
Volkan Oezdemir vs. Aleksandar Rakic
Dooho Choi vs. Charles Jourdain
Da Un Jung vs. Mike Rodriguez
Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Jun Yong Park
Kyung Ho Kang vs. Liu Pingyuan

Preliminary Card (ESPN, 2 a.m. ET)

Tanner Boser vs. Ciryl Gane
Suman Mokhtarian vs. Seungwoo Choi
Dong Hyun Ma vs. Omar Morales
Alexandre Pantoja vs. Matt Schnell
Raoni Barcelos vs. Said Nurmagomedov
Amanda Lemos vs. Veronica Macedo
Heili Alateng vs. Ryan Benoit
Sabina Mazo vs. opponent TBA