While many believe Jon Jones (27-1 in MMA) to be the greatest UFC fighter ever, one man who managed to produce doubts in the mind of ‘Bones’ is none but the light-heavyweight veteran Dominic Reyes (12-4 in MMA).
Jones fought Reyes in 2020 before taking a long hiatus from the octagon for three years. This was also his last fight in the light-heavyweight division of the sport. The 36-year-old recently recalled the epic clash that happened at UFC 247.
Despite the contentious nature of the outcome, Jones, a multiple-time light heavyweight champion, won by unanimous decision. But Jon recently admitted on the OverDogs Podcast that there was a point in the battle when he almost gave up. Bones further added that he saw a kind of fire and hunger in Dominic’s eyes that made him believe that this could be practically the first loss in his career.
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“I got in the fight with him and he was giving me a true f*cking run for my money,” said Jon Jones. The reigning UFC heavyweight champion also expressed that his inner self was having constant doubts, and he almost lost it but managed to pull through at the last moment to register a unanimous decision victory.
However, fans are not convinced by this victory to this date, as one of them commented, “Even Jon knows he lost that fight”. Another Instagram user was convinced that Dominic Reyes won that fight despite what the judges’ decision said: “Reyes won that fight”
One of the comments that was really interesting was: “Reyes was never the same after that… once you beat the top but still don’t win…nihilism sets in”. This is true because Reyes suffered 3 consecutive stoppage losses after the Jones fight and last fought in November 2022.
Jon Jones’ toughest fights in UFC
Jon Jones has been considered a sheer force of nature who has not settled for anything less than greatness. However, when fighting at the topmost stage of MMA, one can never underestimate their opponents. While ‘Bones’ has been able to establish clear dominance in most of his fights, there were some fighters who gave a tough time to the UFC legend.
The one fight that still haunts Jon Jones is his fight against Dominic Reyes. According to the official scorecard for the contest, Jones triumphed over Reyes by a score of 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46. In the opening two rounds of the title fight, the challenger stood out, and Jones obviously had difficulties stopping him because he was delivering devastating blows.
The last two rounds, however, went in favor of the champion, who came back stronger and displayed great striking. This was one of the most controversial decision victories for Jon.
One more fighter who gave Jones a run for his money was Alexander Gustafsson, who was given the title shot at UFC 165 in 2013. Some call it as one of the greatest fights in the history of the UFC. After aggressively pushing Jones with attacks and takedowns, Gustafsson impressively beat him up. Jones, who regularly makes an impact in the first or second round, was restrained right up to the very end.
Jon Jones, on the other hand, used his elbows very well to hurt his opponent on various occasions. Although the champion secured a unanimous decision victory, many believe to this day that Alexander Gustafsson deserved the belt. Their epic fight was later inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame Fight Wing in July of last year.
