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

#3 Reyes doesn’t know how to lose

Dominick Reyes will come into the fight with the confidence of a long unbeaten streak

Every fighter has to lose at some stage in their career, and even greats like Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva and Demetrious Johnson picked up losses early in their careers that appeared to make them better fighters in the long run. However, it’s worth noting that an unbeaten fighter coming into a title fight as the challenger might have a lot more momentum – and confidence – than a challenger who’s suffered plenty of losses.

Simply put, despite not facing too many elite-level opponents thus far in his career, Dominick Reyes does not know how to lose. That means that he brings a certain swagger into the Octagon with him that only an undefeated run like his can bring, and it’s a very different vibe than a former journeyman like Anthony Smith would take into a fight with Jon Jones.

It’s worth noting, for instance, that 6 of the UFC champions crowned in the decade between 2010 and 2019 were undefeated going into their title fight – and that number should be 7 were it not for Jon Jones’ ludicrous disqualification against Matt Hamill.

Perhaps the closest comparison to Reyes’ situation would be in the form of Chris Weidman, who famously unseated Anderson Silva to claim the UFC Middleweight title in 2013. Silva had destroyed basically everyone he’d faced in the UFC, had 10 successful title defenses to his name, and had the aura of an unstoppable fighter – but the unbeaten Weidman, who had the physical attributes and skills to give the Brazilian a tough match – refused to be psyched out by his illustrious opponent.

Jon Jones might be able to get into the head of most of his opponents by reputation alone, but against an undefeated fighter like Reyes who’s never really faced adversity in his UFC career thus far? That’s unlikely, and it could give ‘The Devastator’ an advantage over Jones’ previous opponents come UFC 247.