Reyes recently issued the following tweet about former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, moving on from their rivalry, which Reyes said was a step for him to take to become the next great light heavyweight champion:
Hey @JonnyBones thank you for the experience man, I wish you the best of luck in your journey. I know things got a lil crazy, but I just wanted to be pushed beyond my percieved limits by the LHW GOAT again. God bless and God willing we get to dance under those lights again. --
— Dominick Reyes (@DomReyes) August 30, 2020
“It was me freeing myself from all of that controversy, from that moment,” Reyes said to MMA Fighting. “I took what I could from it, everything I could from it and I moved forward. In order to be the next great champion, I’ve got to move on. There can be nothing else in the mirror. It’s one million percent focused on the target in front of me and that’s Jan Blachowicz. In order to move forward, you’ve got to let go of the past. That’s what that was.”
Jones and Reyes met back at UFC 247, with Jones pulling out a controversial win on that night. The light heavyweight also says he also decided to move on from Jones because he wanted to grow as a human being.
“It’s me growing as a human being,” Reyes explained. “Me growing as a man, me growing as a fighter and realizing that was a massive opportunity. I might be the last person ever to fight Jon at light heavyweight and I won. Whether the cards say it or not, we both know what happened that night. That’s just the reality of the situation. I’m very proud and happy that I went through that with him and I’m grateful that I got to be in there and do what I did and he gave me his best. He didn’t underestimate me. Not one bit. I got the best Jon Jones at the time. I just showed that I was better. I learned a sh*t ton of lessons from that fight, and I’m super proud of everything. I’m proud of where I am now. I’m proud to freaking finish the job and get the belt.”
UFC 253 takes place on Saturday, September 26 from Fight Island is Yas Island, Abu Dhabi with Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which streams live on ESPN+.
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