Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.
MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.
But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.
Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.
Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from Jan. 2-8.
After over five years away, Alex Reyes returns to action to battle newcomer Trevor Peek.
When [autotag]Alex Reyes[/autotag] walks to the UFC cage, it’ll be 1988 days since his previous one.
After nearly five years away from professional MMA competition, Reyes (13-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) will return at UFC Fight Night 220 when he takes on surging newcomer [autotag]Trevor Peek[/autotag] (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in a lightweight battle. The card takes place Feb. 25 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas with the main card on ESPN+ after prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.
Two people with knowledge of the booking recently informed MMA Junkie of the bout but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Reyes, 36, has one UFC bout on his resume to date. It was a short-notice bout, up a weight class against Mike Perry. Reyes was finished with strikes early in Round 1. The fight was perhaps the toughest of his career to date, but pales in comparison to the unexpected fight ahead. He was booked to fight Nasrat Haqparast in March 2018, but withdrew when a stem-cell injection caused a spinal infection – and eventually rendered him unable to walk.
The health struggles were serious and over the next four-plus years Reyes had good days and bad ones, as he detailed in an interview with MMA Junkie on Friday. With his fight future in question – or even in doubt, for much of his time off – Reyes rehabbed until he was finally ready to make his return.
Standing across from him Feb. 25 will be a stiff test, as Peek put on one of the most memorable performances of this past season of Dana White’s Contender Series. Against Malik Lewis, Peek displayed a granite chin, fantastic cardio, and a high-paced offense en route to a UFC contract-earning knockout. The comeback victory maintained his perfect 100 percent knockout/TKO rate.
With the addition, the UFC Fight Night 220 lineup includes:
Doctors told UFC lightweight Alex Reyes in 2018 he may never walk again. Nearly six years after his UFC debut, Reyes has defied the odds and is booked for his second bout.
[autotag]Alex Reyes[/autotag] was told in 2018 he may never walk again. Fast forward over five years later, and see him walk straight to the UFC cage.
Willingly fighting in a cage against another trained combatant is already a semi-superhuman feat. For Reyes, however, the accomplishment extends beyond that, considering the depths from which he’s risen. The comeback is emotional, perhaps improbable, and very unusual.
A bit of a forgotten member of the UFC roster, Reyes is 13-3 as a professional with one UFC fight under his belt. The bout came in September 2017, up a weight class vs. Mike Perry on short notice. He hasn’t fought since, but not due to his own volition.
When Reyes spoke to MMA Junkie in November 2019, his life was monotonous, filled with intravenous injections and uncertainty. It wasn’t easy to be positive after osteomyelitis flipped his world upside down, but he tried his best.
The world was moving around him and he felt stuck. He regained his ability to walk, but life was still a bit of a struggle.
“Mentally, I feel like the train has left without me,” Reyes said. “Where I could be, right now in the UFC, and where I should be, compared to where I am. That’s the hardest part – trying not to let that get me down.”
Nearly six years after his most recent in-cage competition, Reyes is finally back aboard the express engine and beams positivity as it pulls out of the station and toward the UFC Apex for a Feb. 25 bout vs. [autotag]Trevor Peek[/autotag] (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC).
“Doctors were telling me I wasn’t going to walk again, that I wasn’t going to hold my kids, that I needed to change careers,” Reyes told MMA Junkie on Friday. “I had a lot of supporters around me. I had my family, my wife, coaches, management, staff at the UFC. They believed in me and I gave it my best shot and I beat the infection. I didn’t need the surgery. Here I am, man, five years later. My mind never left the sport.”
Health issues began for Reyes when he contracted E. coli through a stem cell injection. The infection caused severe osteomyelitis and a host of other symptoms. Reyes was bedridden and in severe pain.
Meanwhile, the company allegedly responsible for the injection, Genetech, apparently vanished after a warning from the FDA.
“Going from a high-level athlete, leader, and provider to having to be cared for like an infant because I couldn’t take care of myself?” Reyes said in 2019. “Mentally, that was extremely hard to accept.”
Now, Reyes views his life through reverse lenses, as he looks at the distance he’s traveled from disarray to normalcy to high-level professional fighter.
“I’m just blessed that I’m at this point and I’m just fortunate to be at this point in my life and my career to step back in there at the highest level of the sport and compete,” Reyes said Friday. “My body is ready. My mind is ready. I’ll tell you what. The things that I went through, the things I felt were taken from me, the mental toughness that I gained from it – I’m not going to break, man. I’ll take all this adversity I’ve been through and use it as fuel in the fire and know that I can do anything.”
That’s the moral of the story Reyes wants to drive home: Anyone who has spent time around martial arts knows that sometimes fighting mirrors life.
“A lot of things can happen that you don’t account for,” Reyes said. “When those things happen, stay calm, stay patient, stay in the pocket, keep rolling, keep coming forward. Just take it day by day. Stay positive. Surround yourself with good people.”
One person Reyes directly attributes motivation to is fan-favorite UFC lightweight Bobby Green. Training partners from years past, Reyes and Green reunited in recent years. Reyes cornered Green in the UFC. Being an arm’s distance away from the action made Reyes even hungrier to return.
“His positivity and helping me and getting me back to the shape that I need to be in to be at this level, timing and range, he’s been a big help and a big inspiration or motivation for me,” Reyes said.
https://www.instagram.com/p/ClHsdUeP1Wt/
The walkout will be different, admits Reyes, who was already inactive for over two years when the promotion entered the COVID-19 pandemic-induced UFC Apex era. The smaller show vibe, however, will be a fraction of what’s on his mind.
Reyes, now 36, expects everything he’s been through to cross his mind at once. But when it’s time to fight, Reyes says fans can expect he picks up perhaps even further along than where he left off – 1988 days later.
Owner of his own gym, Cage Combat Academy, Reyes has continued to absorb and dish knowledge over the past six years – even if the physical work was delayed.
The biggest fight of his life has been won, but there are still bigger victories sought. From here on out, Reyes isn’t interested in participation trophies. His goal is the highest peaks of the sport.
“(I’ll) get back on that train – and keep riding it the top.”
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Ahead of UFC 253, Dominick Reyes and his brothers hit the beach, Jan Blachowicz welcomes his training partner out of quarantine, and more
The UFC returns to “Fight Island” on Saturday night, as UFC 253 kicks off the company’s next residency in the Middle East.
UFC 253 takes place Saturday at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
Two title fights top the card. The main event is a grudge match, as middleweight champion[autotag] Israel Adesanya[/autotag] (19-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) defends his belt against [autotag]Paulo Costa[/autotag] (13-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC). And a new light heavyweight champ will be crowned, with [autotag]Jan Blachowicz [/autotag](26-8 MMA, 9-5 UFC) vs. [autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag] (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) set to fill the belt vacated by former champion Jon Jones.
The fourth episode of “Embedded” follows the stars as fight week in Abu Dhabi kicks into full gear. Here’s the UFC’s description:
“Jan Blachowicz’s training partner graduates from quarantine; Dominick Reyes visits the oceanside Octagon. Champ Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa have different plans for the belt on Saturday. Diego Sanchez gets deep, and UFC 253 stars speak at media day.”
Check out the latest edition of “Embedded” above. Missed an episode? No problem, we’ve got you covered below:
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Over the span of five days, Alex Reyes lost his ability to walk. Almost two years later, he’s eyeing a return to the UFC.
Even though it’s become the new normal over the past year-and-a-half, it’s still tough for [autotag]Alex Reyes[/autotag] to talk about.
Reyes understandably has chosen to keep relatively silent – until now.
The UFC lightweight and older brother of Dominick Reyes, Alex hasn’t competed since his promotional debut in September 2017 – a loss suffered at the hands of Mike Perry. The fight was one Reyes took on mere days’ notice – up a weight class, against a then-surging knockout artist.
Reyes was booked for his sophomore UFC outing in March 2018 – a fight against Nasrat Haqparast in London. A full camp was in order this time around. He’d fight at his usual 155-pound weight class.
Perfect. Life seemed good.
After 10 years on the regional scene, Reyes finally settled into where he always hoped to be. His goal shifted from making it to the big show, to proving his worth there. He was enjoying life as a coach, a father, a husband. Everything was going right. But things soon went haywire.
“I was feeling pretty positive about my career and everything going on in my life,” Reyes told MMA Junkie. “I feel like everything was ripped out from under me. Just that feeling of helplessness.”
In the end, he never entered the cage in London.
Like many fighters, Reyes had suffered his fair share of wear-and-tear injuries from all the battles in the gym and cage. A competitor at the highest level, Reyes wanted to find a solution. So he turned to stem cell injections from a company called Genentech.
After the first injection, the pain did not subside. So he got a second one. In the days that followed, Reyes began to notice the pain wasn’t improving – it was actually getting worse.
And worse.
And worse.
Five days later, Reyes couldn’t walk. Something clearly was wrong with him.
“On June 30, I got the injection. By July 4, I couldn’t walk anymore,” Reyes said. “When people say you can’t walk anymore, people say, ‘What do you mean you couldn’t walk?’ I was in excruciating pain to where my body wasn’t stable. I couldn’t even sit down. I couldn’t roll over in bed. I could move my toes and my legs, but the pain in my spine in my lower back was so unstable and inflamed and spasming. It was excruciating.”
* * * *
The medical professionals’ assessment deemed this normal. Reyes was told not to worry and sent on his way. But as he progressively deteriorated, even the most passive physician could determine something wasn’t right.
“Talking to the doctors, they were telling me that it’s normal. ‘We did a lot of work. It’s normal.’ But I did this before, and it wasn’t like this. What’s normal?” Reyes said. “I stayed that way for three-and-a-half weeks on a bedpan. They kept telling me, ‘You’re in the 30 percent range where you experience pain for more than two weeks.’ Then I dropped down to ‘the 15 percent,’ and then I dropped down to ‘the 10 percent.’ After six weeks, they’re like, ‘You’re on the one percent.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, God.’ Everything was going wrong.”
So what was the cause of all this agony? After an MRI, Reyes was diagnosed with a rare but serious spinal infection – osteomyelitis. The injection he received was tainted with E. coli, among other nastiness. Even with a fighter-level of tolerance, Reyes’ pain was intolerable.
“As fighters, we know how to push,” Reyes said. “We have tough weight cuts. We have tough practices. … Preparing for MMA fights for five rounds can be grueling. I knew how to push myself. And the whole time, I’m trying to tell myself my body is rebuilding. ‘This is OK. I gotta keep pushing. I gotta keep pushing.’ But, man, it wasn’t getting better.”
The next few weeks were nothing short of a living hell. The pain was bad enough, but the mental and emotional anguish? Brutal.
Unable to function, Reyes lost his independence. He relied on his wife, Rosalie, to help him with everything, including when he had to use a bedpan. She had to take care of him “like an infant.”
“My wife really stuck by me, supported, and took care of me,” Reyes said. “She had to give me sponge baths, because I couldn’t stand or sit in the shower, and she cared for me like an infant. Going from a high level athlete, leader, and provider to having to be cared for like an infant because I couldn’t take care of myself? Mentally, that was extremely hard to accept.”
The mental side of things was unforgiving. While trying to live the life of a normal, functioning person, Reyes couldn’t help but picture where he could be – where he should be. It was heartbreaking.
“Mentally, I feel like the train has left without me,” Reyes said. “Where I could be, right now in the UFC, and where I should be, compared to where I am. That’s the hardest part – trying not to let that get me down.”
But Reyes stuck with his recovery regimen. Even with progress, complications reared their heads when his IV stints began to consistently get blocked with clots.
“I (was) taking tons of pain pills and medicine,” Reyes said. “It was just horrible. Then on top of that, my IV pick line kept getting blood clots. I kept having to go in so they could remove that and take it out. They kept checking for blood clots in my arteries. It was just a mess. I’m still getting drips, but that’s what happened.”
* * * *
Some of Reyes’ pain subsided through months of IV therapy – five-and-a-half months of three to four infusions a day, to be exact. Despite the decrease in physical distress, Reyes has been told he’ll carry this infection with him for the rest of his life.
“The crazy thing about this is that it never completely goes away,” Reyes said. “The infection in your spine, osteomyelitis – it goes dormant. You’ve just got to pay attention to it even though the infection isn’t active right now. I guess it can come back, and I just have to pay attention to that.”
Reyes still has obstacles to overcome. He still experiences pain as he attempts to build back up to peak athletic form. CBD has helped Reyes get off the pain pills. He’s stretching and strengthening his core through physical therapy.
With no specific finish line for his recovery, keeping a “day-to-day” focus isn’t easy. But he’s keeping an optimistic, positive mindset – which he credits his support group for helping him maintain.
“I’m improving, which I’m blessed and fortunate,” Reyes said. “I still have a lot of support with my close friends and family. It’s really discouraging at times – a helpless feeling. My manager checks up on me every week. Jason House calls and checks in on how I’m doing, asking if there’s anything he can do to help me out.
“… They say ‘to fail to plan is to plan to fail.’ So I’m planning to succeed. I’m setting goals, staying positive and keep pushing towards them as much as I can. That’s the only way I can look at it. If I try to look at it any other way and just wallow and feel sorry for myself, I’m not going to get any better. I’m not going to improve.”
* * * *
Reyes, 33, wasn’t the only one who suffered because of those injections. He’s not sure of the exact number, but has heard as many as 60 others could have been affected.
Despite the conserved effort to sue the company in question, the lawsuit was dropped after Genentech owner Edwin Pinos allegedly fled the country. Now, Reyes hopes to spread awareness for those who were affected but don’t have the same platform.
“I’m not that person looking for people to feel sorry for me,” Reyes said. “At least for other people out there, getting the word out can help others make that decision. I guess for the people who didn’t get to interview or speak about it or didn’t get their stories heard about this guy and how he operated his company, you know?”
Through his entire ordeal, Reyes has promised himself to make it back to where he belongs in the UFC. Perhaps in February or March, but no pressure. His self-belief is what has led him to all of his successes: a black belt, a jiu-jitsu title, two regional titles, and a UFC contract. So why should he change that?
“The possibilities are I know the odds are against me – but there’s nothing that’s stopped me yet completely,” Reyes said. “… God willing, I can get back in there and compete at the highest level. It’s a dream I want to achieve for my students, for my son. Anything is possible with support and belief in yourself, just chasing your dream and a goal. A passion that I have – I still have that.
“I will get back in there and make that walk to the octagon.”
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