Jan Blachowicz Says Dominick Reyes Came up Short Against Jon Jones

There was no shortage of people this past February who scored Jon Jones’ fight with Dominick Reyes for the latter. But recently Jan Blachowicz commented on the memorable battle, and he believes Jones did enough to win the fight.

Blachowicz scored the fight for “Bones”

Reyes was tapped to face Jones at UFC 247, which took place on February 8th in Las Vegas. Heading into the bout, the consensus was that Reyes was a threat to Jones, on account of his punching power. But, that if Jones fought smart, as he usually, almost does, he should cruise to a win.

Reyes, however, buzzed the MMA world by tagging Jones with heavy shots in the opening frames. “Bones”, who was still the light heavyweight king at the time, came back later in the fight.

But, many people scored the first three rounds for Reyes and therefore the fight.

Well, fast forward to today and Blachowicz is booked to fight Reyes for the now vacated belt, September 26th. While talking to the media recently, Blachowicz had this to say about Reyes’ epic battle with Jones (quote via MMA Junkie).

“I’m almost facing the champion of the division, but I scored it for Jon Jones,” Blachowicz said. “It was really close.

There was a really small difference between them. Maybe if he had one or two more punches, he would win the fight, but I scored it with my coaches and my team that Jon Jones won the fight.

But I’m happy I’m fighting someone like Dominick Reyes also someone who’s among the best in the world, No. 1 in the division. It’s going to be an amazing fight.”

There you have it. While it was a close fight, and plenty of people had it for Reyes, it was certainly close enough where you could have scored it for Jones.

Blachowicz isn’t thinking about Jones

Before Jones vacated the light heavyweight title to make a run at heavyweight, there was talk about him facing Blachowicz next. The Polish contender drove hard for a bout with Jones, for quite sometime.

But, on account of everything that’s transpired, Blachowicz is solely focused on defeating Reyes.

“I’m happy because I got a title shot,” Blachowicz said. “The title is what’s most important; the belt is what’s most important.

Dominick Reyes is a great opponent. He almost beat Jon Jones, it was a close fight, so I’m happy to be fighting Dominick Reyes for the title.

“I don’t care about Jon Jones right now. He doesn’t exist for me. Maybe I’ll catch him later, I don’t care. I’m only thinking about Dominick right now.”

It’s going to be really interesting to see who becomes the UFC’s next light heavyweight champ. If you’re wondering, Blachowicz is currently an underdog with odds ranging from +195 to +210.