Jon Jones to defend UFC light heavyweight title against unbeaten Dominick Reyes
by RT
Jon Jones to defend UFC light heavyweight title against unbeaten Dominick Reyes
The greatest light heavyweight mixed martial artist in history, Jon Jones, will defend his crown against the undefeated American Dominick Reyes in February, according to UFC boss Dana White.
Jones has been hinting on social media that his next fight would be announced shortly and, good to his word, UFC boss White told ESPN that he will be challenged by the unbeaten Reyes as the headliner of the UFC’s as-yet-untitled card on February 8 in Houston, Texas.
The fight marks the 15th title fight of Jones’ career and his first since a split decision win against Thiago Santos at UFC 239 in July. That followed wins in close succession against Anthony Smith and Alexander Gustafsson upon return from a ban levied against him for failing a drug test in the wake of a title victory against Daniel Cormier.
The lone defeat of Jones’ career came when he was disqualified for throwing an illegal elbow in a fight with Matt Hammil in 2009.
Reyes, meanwhile, was last seen defeating former middleweight champion Chris Weidman in his 205-pound debut in October to improve his record to 6-0 in the UFC (12-0 overall).
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He also holds a win against former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir and former Jones opponent Ovince St. Preux in his last two fights.
Unusually for the UFC, the number of the event hasn’t yet been released as UFC 246 is expected to take place in January should an agreement be reached with Conor McGregor to compete. If, as expected, McGregor returns on that card then the Jones-Reyes card would be UFC 247.
Valentina Shevchenko, meanwhile, will defend her flyweight title against Katlyn Chookagian in the co-main event. Further bouts are expected to be revealed in the coming days.
