HOUSTON – UFC president Dana White thought there would be a new light heavyweight champion when he entered the octagon after the UFC 247 main event.
In the aftermath of Jon Jones’ unanimous decision win over Dominick Reyes on Saturday, debate has raged about who won the fight. Reyes (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) made Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) seem more human than ever before, and a large contingency of the combat sports world thought the belt would change hands.
White admitted he was part of that group. Following UFC 247, the UFC boss said he gave Reyes the first three rounds and the final two to Jones, but the judges saw it differently, all giving the champion the nod for a successful title defense.
“The scoring was all over the map,” White said. “… Going into the last round, I had Dominick Reyes 3-1 going to the last round. My kids are terrorizing me that the fix is in, ‘How could this happen, Dad?, Reyes won that fight,’ and the list goes on and on of people who are reaching out to me. So it’s not like there’s this landslide of people saying it was a robbery or whatever. People have it all over the place.
“But the reality is, who gives a sh*t? We’re not judges. None of us are judges, the judges called the fight, and that’s that.”
Reyes, for his part, was certain he deserved to win.
“I know I won that fight,” Reyes said. “I was in there. I don’t need to watch the replay.”
UFC 247, which took place at Toyota Center and aired on pay-per-view, marked the second consecutive competitive, and somewhat controversial, fight for Jones. He edged Thiago Santos by split decision at UFC 239 in July, and after that there was a belief the belt should’ve changed hands.
White praised Jones for finding a way to consistently get his hand raised, though, and said he’s not completely ruling out the possibility of booking a rematch in the future.
The UFC boss pointed out both Jones and Reyes were physically banged up after the contest, and he won’t be calling them about a next fight anytime soon.
