'He Ran From Me!': Dominick Reyes Calls Out Jon Jones' Retirement Games
Former light heavyweight title challenger Dominick Reyes didn't hold back when discussing Jon Jones' controversial retirement drama, accusing the former champion of ducking both him and current interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.
The MMA world was left scratching their heads six weeks ago when UFC CEO Dana White announced that Jones had officially stepped away from fighting, vacating his heavyweight title in the process. The move killed the highly anticipated unification bout with Tom Aspinall, who was subsequently promoted to undisputed champion and booked against Ciryl Gane for UFC 321 this October.
But Jones' retirement didn't last long. Just weeks later, 'Bones" was back in the UFC testing pool, eyeing a comeback at the historic White House card planned for July 2026. This flip-flopping left fans furious, and Reyes believes it's part of a larger pattern of deceptive behavior.
The Frustration Boils Over
'I think because he does this thing that he does, and he just strings everyone along, and he lies, and tells this and says that," Reyes explained during his appearance on the Pound-4-Pound podcast. 'And he's smug about it and arrogant. He's not being genuine. We just want a genuine answer out of you, bro. Not some bullcrap string everybody a long, 'Oh, well, maybe this, uhhhh.' Are you going to fight or not?"
The criticism gets personal when Reyes recalls his own experience chasing a rematch after their competitive UFC 247 title fight in 2020. Despite many believing Reyes won that contest, Jones retained his belt by decision.
'I did!" Reyes confirmed when asked about wanting a rematch. 'If you guys don't remember after that fight, I lobbied for the rematch for an entire year and he said, 'Drop 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.' That was literally his response."
With Jones' pattern of avoiding dangerous fights becoming clearer, fans are left wondering if the greatest fighter of all time is tarnishing his own legacy through calculated duck-and-dodge tactics.
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First Published:
August 02, 2025, 11:53 IST
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