From the outside looking in, it’s easy to assume Jon Jones might be bored with the competition in the UFC light heavyweight division by now.
After all, even Jones’ biggest detractors admit that regardless of what you might think about the champion outside the cage, he’s been peerless inside the octagon, making the list of challengers to his title seem like an assembly line of opponents getting queued up for defeat.
But Jones (25-1 MMA, 19-1 UFC), a dozen years into a career in which he has never suffered a legitimate defeat, says he still finds reasons to get motivated for his challengers.
And he’s found a big one in his next task, his UFC 247 main event title defense against Dominick Reyes.
Reyes (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) has been nearly untouchable thus far in his UFC tenure, boasting an undefeated record. And being the man who causes another fighter’s “0” to go is something Jones has always relished.
“I really like the fact that he’s undefeated,” Jones told reporters, including MMA Junkie, on a Monday media call promoting UFC 247. “I think something special comes out of me when I fight guys that are undefeated. Ryan Bader was undefeated – he’s now the double champ (in Bellator). That excited me. Daniel Cormier was undefeated and looked at as close to invincible by many people. That excited me.
“Glover Teixeira (was) on a 20-fight win streak when I met him, so it definitely brings out more when I’m fighting someone who’s never tasted defeat before. Dominick has that attitude of being superior, and it’s gonna go great, giving him his first taste of defeat.”
Jones said that after his most recent title defense, in which he earned a hard-fought split decision over Thiago Santos, he was given the option of facing either Reyes or Corey Anderson. Jones said the excitement Reyes has brought to his fights was enough to give him the nod.
“It’s a great fight for me, just because he’s undefeated and he’s the toughest guy out here right now,” Jones said. “We had the choice of whether we were going to fight Corey Anderson or Dominick Reyes. That was the conversation I had with the UFC, and I chose Dominick Reyes because me and my coaches watched Corey fight and watched Dominick and we saw that Dominick was finishing people.
“I like this guy. I like Corey Anderson, and he can grind out a 25-minute fight and match my cardio. But Corey Anderson doesn’t really finish people like that. Dominick can finish people, which is way more of a challenge, way more scary of a fight. And that’s exactly why I did it.”
UFC 247 takes place Saturday at Toyota Center in Houston. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
