3 reasons why Dominick Reyes could upset Jon Jones | UFC 247

#2 Jones hasn’t looked at his best recently

Jon Jones didn't look like his dominant self in his win over Thiago Santos

Jon Jones claimed a pair of major wins in 2019, racking up two more successful defenses of his UFC Light-Heavyweight title by beating top contenders Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos. Despite these victories though, the nature of Jones’ performances were not exactly all that impressive. Not to take anything away from either Smith or Santos – both of whom earned their shot at Jones – but ‘Bones’ had fought, and destroyed better opponents in the past.

More interestingly, both fights seemed to highlight some of Jones’ more questionable attributes. Against Smith, it was clear from a very early point in the fight that the challenger was outclassed, and yet it felt like Jones was happy to coast to a win – and also appeared to be bored enough to throw an illegal knee in the fourth round. At no point did he really push hard for a finish, even though Smith was almost totally defensive.

And against Santos, the champion found himself in trouble due to the kicking power and combination striking of the Brazilian, but despite the challenger’s questionable ground game, ‘Bones’ did not look to take him down at any point during the fight – even after he suffered what looked like a serious knee injury.

So what exactly has happened to the New York native? There are a couple of possibilities. One is that he simply wasn’t motivated for his two fights in 2019 – which is a worrying idea given there’s an argument that Dominick Reyes is a more dangerous opponent than both, but still doesn’t carry a lot of name value. Another is that after more than a decade of fights at the top of the UFC, Jones could well be coming to the end of his prime.

If that is the case – and it wouldn’t be too much of a shock given some of the bruising encounters he’s had inside the Octagon over the years – then a young gun like Reyes, whose first professional fight came three years after Jones first won the UFC Light-Heavyweight title, could be perfectly poised to capitalize on his downfall.