Dominick Reyes Criticizes Jon Jones’ Boxing, Jones Responds
Jon Jones is putting his light heavyweight title up for grabs this weekend (Sat. February 8, 2020).
“Bones” will headline the UFC 247 pay-per-view (PPV) event from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas against undefeated challenger Dominick Reyes. The rivalry between Jones and Reyes leading up to this fight has been interesting. Neither man really likes the other, as they have exchanged trash talk through the media and in interviews for the past several weeks. This all seemed to start at last month’s press conference, where things were very tense.
Apparently, Jones didn’t appreciate how Reyes called him out following his win over Chris Weidman last year, using a “party favors” line. Yesterday, the UFC held an Athletes Panel featuring Jones, Valentina Shevchenko, Derrick Lewis, as well as Reyes, Katlyn Chookagian, and Ilir Latifi. During the first panel, Reyes had some criticism about Jones’ boxing ability, saying everyone knows “Bones” isn’t the best boxer. (H/T MMA Fighting)
“It’s no secret that Jon isn’t the best boxer in the UFC,” Reyes said. “He’s a great kickboxer. He has great range. He uses his kicks very well. But he’s not the best boxer. I intend to exploit that. I think my boxing is probably the best in the division. With footwork and fearlessness, I’ll get in there and put these hands on him.”
In the following panel, Jones was asked to respond to Reyes’ comments. Jones poked fun at Reyes’ mitt work before adding that he’s mostly a kicker than he is a puncher. The light heavyweight champion isn’t taking Reyes lightly as an opponent either.
He’s aware the 30-year-old has fight-ending power and can finish a fight in a variety of ways. Despite knowing he himself is the better overall mixed martial artist, Jones respects Reyes’ abilities inside of the Octagon.
“Have you seen his mitt work?” Jones said. “He has a tremendous left hand. I’m sure he’s going to work on his right hand, especially because I’ve brought it up so much. But my job is not to go out there and get into a boxing match. My job is to be the better mixed martial arts fighter. Like I said, I’m very aware that his best counters come in boxing combinations and I’m not going to give him what he wants.
“It’s going to be a mixed martial arts fight. He has power. We can’t deny that. I’ve seen him kick people in the head and knock them out. I’ve seen him drop people with that left and you’ve got to respect it. At the end of the day, I could sit in front of you guys and act like I’ve got it all in the bag but at the end of the day, you don’t know what’s going to happen out there. Anything can happen out there.
“So I’ve just got to respect him tremendously, which I have. We’ve done everything possible that we can do to be strong mentally, spiritually, physically for this fight. He’s a worthy opponent.”
What do you think about Reyes’ criticism of Jones’ boxing skills? Who are you picking to come out on top this weekend?
