Dominick Reyes Takes Poke at UFC Vegas 8 Headliner

Dominick Reyes is fighting for the UFC’s vacant light heavyweight title next month, and if he wins it, it doesn’t look like he’ll be calling for a bout with Aleksandar Rakic.

Reyes calls UFC Vegas 8 main event “lame”

Rakic faced fellow contender Anthony Smith in the main event of Saturday’s event, in a contest that originally, wasn’t supposed to be the headliner. Originally, a featherweight fight between Zabit Magomedsharipov and Yair Rodriguez was supposed to headline, but an injury to the latter prompted the fight’s postponement.

As a result, the Smith – Rakic fight remained just three rounds, and it saw the latter work his way to a clear cut, decision win. Reyes was busy on Twitter during the fight, and clearly, he wasn’t impressed.

Clinging onto the fence

Not the greatest Fight IQ should prolly break and smash him

But what do I know

Lame!

Welp that uneventful #UFCVegas8

Eventually, Reyes did credit Rakic for his win.

In all seriousness tho. Good fight Rakic

Valid criticisms?

Does Reyes have a point? Was the main event underwhelming? Yes and no.

As far as memorable action, there’s no question that the fight didn’t feature the fireworks a lot of people expected. Rakic did score with some vicious calf kicks that likely prompted winces throughout the MMA world, but, he won the fight by controlling the action on top.

That said, not too many people were praising Rakic’s wrestling and grappling game heading into UFC Vegas 8. So, he did showcase that he has other offensive tools at his disposal. Yes, Smith was clearly the smaller man, but it’s worth noting he’s a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Naturally, it wouldn’t be surprising if Reyes is still pretty, pretty confident he can beat Rakic, if and when the fight.

And could that happen soon? Reyes will face Blachowcz for the vacant title on September 26th at UFC 253. But, if he wins the belt, it would be surprising if the UFC tapped Rakic for a title shot.

Rakic’s latest win likely didn’t buzz the masses, and Glover Teixeira and Thiago Santos are fighting on September 12th. There’s a good chance the winner of that fight will be awarded a title shot.