Jon Jones’ next title defense is set, and the UFC light heavyweight champion will be putting his belt on the line against fast-rising contender Dominick Reyes. Jones had initially dismissed the idea of a fight with Reyes only to recently suggest he and his team had studied both Reyes as well as fellow contender Corey Anderson and determined Reyes was the more significant challenge. UFC president Dana White confirmed to ESPN that Jones and Reyes would clash in the main event in Houston on Feb. 8 on pay-per-view. With the first quarter schedule not currently set, there is no official “number” attached to the PPV.
Jones and Reyes have exchanged words on Twitter recently, with Jones taking offense to “fake” respect shown by Reyes after callouts from the challenger. That came on the heels of Jones using Twitter to announce his desire to fight Reyes, tweeting, “Just finished a coaches meeting studying Dominick and Cory’s careers. Established Dominicks definitely the more dangerous fighter. Beating his ass next.”
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Jones is closing in on a decade since his lone professional loss, a controversial disqualification against Matt Hamill in December 2009. Despite his run of dominance, he has been stripped of the title on two separate occasions, once for a hit-and-run incident and once for a failed drug test. His most recent win was a highly-competitive split decision with Thiago Santos in July.
Reyes has racked up six consecutive victories in the Octagon to run his career record to 12-0. His first-round knockout of former middleweight champ Chris Weidman is the most notable win on his resume, but other impressive wins such as a split decision over former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir and a knockout of middleweight contender Jared Cannonier have helped him rise to his top contender spot.
The Feb. 8 PPV card in Houston is also slated to feature women’s flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko taking on Katlyn Chookagian.
