Dominick Reyes has criticised former opponent Jon Jones for retiring before facing the interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. The Aspinall-Jones fight was highly anticipated amongst MMA fans, with rumours of whether or not the fight would happen before Jones ultimately retired before the bout could take place back in June, with Aspinall subsequently being named as the undisputed Heavyweight champion as Jones vacated the belt.
Reyes, who arguably gave Jones his toughest fight ever, has gone off on Jon Jones for retiring before the fight could take place. The pair faced off back in February 2020 at UFC 247, with Jones winning via unanimous decision. Despite the victory for Jones, the judge’s scorecards were the subject of debate amongst the MMA world, with many pundits and fans scoring the fight in favour of Reyes.
Speaking on Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo’s Pound 4 Pound show, Reyes said, “I think because he just does this thing that he does and he just strings everyone along and lies and tells this and says that and he’s smug about it… He’s not being a genuine man. We just want a genuine answer out of you, man… (He) strings everyone along. Are you gonna fight or not? That’s what everyone is mad about. He’s trying to play with all of us. Just tell, if you’re done, say you’re done, if you’re not, then say let’s go. But I want more money, or I want more of this, and that’s it. We’ll see after the big announcement comes out, and then it’s nothing.”
Speaking on his situation with Jones, Reyes added, “If you guys don’t remember after our fight, I lobbied for the rematch the entire year, and he dropped the belt and went to heavyweight. Literally, that’s what happened. People forget that, too. He ran from me. He said you’re not paying me enough to fight that guy; he’s too dangerous.”
Many fans have been critical of Jones for stalling the heavyweight division and not fighting Aspinall, who was clearly the next contender for the belt. Jones has hinted at a possible return to the UFC octagon next year, with a heavily rumoured White House card to take place in July 2026.
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