Javier Reyes hopes redemption garners call-up: 'I will make my door to the f*cking UFC'

USA Today

09-05-2025

Javier Reyes hopes redemption garners call-up: 'I will make my door to the f*cking UFC'
If the door is closed and locked, Javier Reyes will bust down the wall to get into the room.
Currently the No. 1 pound-for-pound prospect according to Tapology's North American rankings, Reyes (20-4) has had over 50 fights total between amateur and professional. However, the letters U, F, and C have not appeared on his resume in sequential order.
"I'm out here for redemption after the last fight in LFA," Reyes recently told MMA Junkie through a Spanish-language interpreter. "It didn't go my way. I made a mistake. I feel good and efficient after my last fight, five or six weeks ago. The fight was real short, like a minute. I feel like I didn't even take a punch or nothing. I'm in the best shape of my life, and I'm out for redemption and to show the world why I'm Tapology's No. 1."
Reyes, 31, returns to LFA seeking redemption. The lone loss in his currently 10-1 stretch came under the LFA banner in an interim title fight vs. Lerryon Douglas in August. Reyes has picked up two consecutive wins in other promotions since then, fixated on not letting one loss define him.
"I never care," Reyes said. "You see my career. Unlike a lot of fighters and manager, who protect the kids, and don't want to take fights, I fight the toughest guys who are there. I don't care who it is. I'm coming for everybody. If UFC doesn't open up the door, I'm going to make my own door. That's a way to make doors. I take all the tough people. I'll fight anybody. I'm one of the toughest guys out there. I'm going to prove that to everybody again on Friday night. I'm the toughest guy."
There are a number of motivators for Reyes, but perhaps none more so than wanting Colombia-born representation in the UFC. While he finished his camp in Arizona with Javier Torres, Reyes mostly self-trains with a small team in Colombia – further proving his love for his country.
"I spent most of the time with Colombia," Reyes said. "I put a lot of time in here as well. But I have my own little team over there and I want to tell everybody, anything is possible. A lot of these guys leave. But sometimes, I train in the park. We train here and there and can prove to the world that even in Colombia you can do everything from your own home as well."
On Friday at LFA 208, Reyes headlines vs. Chris Mecate (10-2), a fighter who trains under Cub Swanson. Given the marquee placement and difficulty of opponent, Reyes sees this as an unofficial Dana White's Contender Series fight. The event takes place at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, Calif. and streams on UFC Fight Pass.
"I'll say one thing. I'm not just a fighter," Reyes said. "I like finishing fights. Even if in my last fight in LFA I got finished, I came to finish. I don't come to fight for a decision. I come out to finish the person, to finish the toughest guy in front of me – anybody. That's how I'm going to make my door to the f*cking UFC. I come to finish. I come to fight. I don't want a decision. I come to prove I'm the best."