Dominick Reyes earns his shot at the light heavyweight championship after winning six straight fights since his promotional debut in 2017.
The 30-year old ‘Devastator’ holds notable wins against Jared Cannonier, Ovince Saint Preux, and Chris Weidman, but will march as the underdog when he challenges Jon Jones in the main event of UFC 247 on Saturday.
Many fans and pundits have counted out Reyes, saying he will be an easy assignment for Jones, but for UFC color commentator Joe Rogan, he will the be the toughest challenge for the light heavyweight champ since Daniel Cormier.
“I believe that Dominick Reyes is the most dangerous fighter Jon Jones has faced since Daniel Cormier,” Rogan claim on his podcast, (via MMA Fighting).
Confident
Given Reyes’ unblemished MMA record, Rogan believes he will enter the light heavyweight title fight with extreme confidence despite going up against one of the greatest mixed martial artists in the history.
“I think Dominick Reyes presents a very unique set of challenges.”
“First of all the length. The undefeated record, he is 12-0.”
There is confidence that comes with undefeated records, and Dominick is extremely confident.”
The podcast host expects the challenger to bank on his knockout power, great footwork, length, and movement to be able to pull off a major upset.
“He’s a believer in himself and that belief in himself has led him to stop guys like Chris Weidman, to knock out OSP with one second to go. He’s got belief in his power.”
“He’s got legit one-punch knockout power. He has great footwork and movement. He just had the opportunity to see Jon struggle with Thiago Santos [and] he has a style, he can mimic that kind of success, the chopping at the legs.”
“I think this is a dangerous fight for Jon, but I also think Jon knows it is a dangerous fight for Jon and Jon is a champion.”
Rising To The Occasion
As for Jones, Rogan sees him putting up his best performance to date. This, after, he survived a major scare from Santos on his most recent title-defence.
“A real champion, the greatest champion the light heavyweight division has ever known. Unquestionably.”
“And I think he is going to rise to the occasion. I think we are going to see the best Jon Jones.”
“I think Jon Jones needs a real threat to scare him and work him up, and I don’t know if Thiago Santos was that for him.”
“Thiago Santos was a title defense and a chance for him to fight, but I don’t think that is what he gets scared of.”
With ‘The Devastator’ potentially causing a big problem for Jones, the UFC commentator is confident the reigning champ will still go for the jugular.
“I think Jon needs someone like Dominick Reyes, a real threat, so we see who he was in the second fight with Daniel Cormier when he head kicked DC and knocked him out [or] the second fight with Gustafsson when he smashed him.”
“That is the real Jon Jones, Jon Jones when he’s pressed, and I think Dominick Reyes presents that kind of a problem and I think you’re gonna see a killer Jon Jones this weekend.”
“I think he’s gonna be on fire,” Rogan ended.
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Dominick Reyes and YouTube/ Joe Rogan Experience)