Jon Jones advised Dominick Reyes to accept his defeat from their controversial 2020 fight and move on, asserting that Reyes didn’t do enough to win and that accepting this will make him a better athlete.
Jon Jones is giving advice to Dominick Reyes: Accept defeat and move on with your life.
In 2020, Jones defeated Reyes via controversial decision to retain his — at the time — light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 247.
It remains one of the most heavily debated results in UFC championship history. Many believed Reyes did enough to defeat Jones that night in Houston.
Four years later, Reyes still believes he was the rightful winner. He explained this on The MMA Hour following his UFC Louisville win against Dustin Jacoby.
“Forever, he’ll also be known that he lost to me,” Reyes said. “Maybe we can figure that out one day. It’s not a belief, it’s a fact [that I beat him]. That’s the difference.”
On Tuesday, Jones took exception to that and issued his retort on Twitter.
“What a claim to fame, almost beat [Jon] Jones,” Jones said. “Got full of myself and literally couldn’t win another fight.”
After responding to a fan that let him know that Reyes defeated Jacoby at UFC Louisville, Jones responded by saying he didn’t watch the bout. He called it a “nice surprise.”
Then, the current UFC heavyweight champion issued some advice to the last man he defended his 205-pound championship against before vacating and moving up.
Dominic, when you look back at our fight, I don’t want you to ever question me or those judges. Look at your own heart, your own endurance, you didn’t do enough. The sooner you accept that, the better athlete you’ll become.
— BONY (@JonnyBones)
“[Dominick], when you look back at our fight, I don’t want you to ever question me or those judges,” Jones stated. “Look at your own heart, your own endurance, you didn’t do enough. The sooner you accept that, the better athlete you’ll become.”
Jones hasn’t competed since March 2023, when he submitted Ciryl Gane to win the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285.
Reyes’ win against Jacoby was his first in 1,695 days. His most recent win before that was a knockout of former middleweight champion Chris Weidman at UFC Boston in October 2019.