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Dominick Reyes reveals biggest mistake he made after Jon Jones loss that led to four-fight losing skid

Originally posted on Bloody Elbow
By Christopher De Santiago | Last updated Aug 1, 2025 1:17 AM ET

It took years for Dominick Reyes to turn his UFC career around after fighting Jon Jones.

The #8 UFC light heavyweight contender is back to winning ways in 2025. Reyes, 35, has won three fights in a row by stoppage, taking out the likes of Nikita Krylov, Dustin Jacoby, and one-time title challenger Anthony ‘Lionheart’ Smith.

Reyes, a former title challenger himself, nearly took the light heavyweight title from consensus ‘GOAT’ Jon Jones in 2020.

Despite thinking he had done enough to beat Jones across five rounds, Jones ended up taking home the unanimous decision win at UFC 247, never to return to light heavyweight again.

Reyes went on to lose his next three fights via stoppage to Jan Blachowicz, Jiri Prochazka and Ryan Spann before returning to the win column last year.

Looking back on it now, Reyes knows where it all went wrong.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Dominick Reyes made unnecessary changes after Jon Jones fight

Speaking on the Pound 4 Pound Podcast, Reyes says he never thought about retiring after four consecutive losses.

“It was just me getting my s— together,” Reyes said of coming back from his losing skid.

“I’d never lost at all ever in MMA my whole career.”

Reyes was a perfect 12-0 when he fought Jones for the world title, with half of those wins coming in the Octagon.

“Some guys get in the UFC, they’ll lose their first couple or win a couple, lose a couple, and then get on a streak or whatever. I was streaking the whole time.

“So when I came out and I lost this decision to Jon, I tried to make changes that I didn’t need to make,” Reyes said.

“I changed my team… like why did you change your team, you know?

“I tried to change my style to be more sitting in the pocket and just throwing hands,” Reyes continued.

“I [thought] I need more power. I tried to figure out why I lost that fight and I tried to figure out why I didn’t knock out Jon because I hit him pretty f—— clean a bunch of times. And I’m like, I just didn’t have enough power.

“So, I tried to change my style to stand in the pocket more, new coaches, whole new team, and that f—– me up,” Reyes admitted.

“You change everything and you already have it and you’re changing it. Why?

“I went and trained with [Alex] Pereira and Glover [Teixeira] for the Spann fight. That whole thing was another situation where I was trying to find myself. After that fight, I was like, you know what, man? I need to stop all this… I need to just get back to the work, get back to exactly what I was doing…”

Dominick Reyes is likely a win away from another title shot

Five years removed from his close decision against Jones, Reyes is on the cusp of a second title opportunity at 205 lbs.

On a three-fight win streak, Reyes has recently been booked to fight #3 contender Carlos Ulberg in the five-round main event of UFC Perth on September 27th.