Tag: Dominick Reyes

Nikita Krylov vs. Dominick Reyes added to April’s UFC 314 lineup

Two of the most violent fighters in the light heavyweight division will clash at UFC 314 when Nikita Krylov meets Dominick Reyes.

Two of the most violent fighters in the light heavyweight division will clash at UFC 314 when [autotag]Nikita Krylov[/autotag] meets [autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag].

Krylov (29-9 MMA, 11-7 UFC) and Reyes (14-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) have agreed to meet on the April 12 card, which is expected to take place at Kesaya Center in Miami. Two people with knowledge of the situation verified the booking with MMA Junkie following an initial report from MMAFighting.com.

After being sidelined since March 2023, Krylov, 32, finally will make his return to competition on the strength of a three-fight winning streak against Ryan Spann, Volkan Oezdemir and Alexander Gustafsson. Despite the hiatus, Krylov is No. 8 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie light heavyweight rankings.

He will attempt to fend off No. 14-ranked Reyes, 35, who is experiencing a career resurgence after slumping with a four-fight losing skid that included a pair of title-fight defeats to Jon Jones and Jan Blachowicz. He rebounded in 2024 with knockouts of Anthony Smith and Dustin Jacoby and will look to keep his momentum rolling.

The latest UFC 314 lineup now includes:

  • Gilbert Burns vs. Michael Morales
  • Virna Jandiroba vs. Yan Xiaonan
  • Nikita Krylov vs. Dominick Reyes

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 311.

Dominick Reyes reveals raw message Anthony Smith gave him during UFC 310 fight

Dominick Reyes could feel Anthony Smith’s emotions while in the cage with him at UFC 310.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag] could feel [autotag]Anthony Smith[/autotag]’s emotions during their UFC 310 fight.

Reyes (14-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) picked up his second consecutive win when he scored a second-round TKO of Smith (38-21 MMA, 13-11 UFC) in their light heavyweight bout Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.

Smith came into UFC 310 with a heavy heart after recently losing his longtime friend and coach, Scott Morton. “Lionheart” couldn’t hold back his tears during his walkout and took quite a bit of punishment courtesy of Reyes’ ground-and-pound before the referee waved off the fight.

“Anthony is a true warrior, and he’s going to fight to the end. He wanted to fight to the end,” Reyes told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “He needed to feel something tonight, whatever he’s going through, but he kept moving. The ref said, ‘Come on Anthony,’ and he would move.”

Prior to the fight, Smith said he didn’t care about winning and that he planned on using the fight as an outlet to grieve. Reyes recalls Smith asking him to punch him during the fight so he could feel something.

“So, when I went in the cage – I haven’t been around Anthony much in my life, but when I was in the cage with him, he was emotional, right? That’s a dangerous man,” Reyes said. “Like he said it. He’s fighting for his friend, and he doesn’t care about the outcome. He just wants to feel something.

“There was a point in the first round when he put his hands down and was just like, ‘Punch me in the face.’ And I obliged. That’s my job. My job is to finish you and get you out of there whether you’re going through something or not. If you’re going to give me free shots or not, I’m going to hit you. We’re professional fighters. It’s a very dangerous game, you know. God bless Anthony.”

Reyes sympathizes with Smith but knew he had a job to do – especially after going through hardships of his own to put together his first winning streak since 2019.

“Losing someone is never easy,” Reyes continued. “I’ve lost some really close people to me this year as well and it’s terrible. I’m glad he got to come out and be the warrior that he is, this is his outlet. Like Cormier said, it’s my job to not care.

“My job is to win. My job is to go out there and give my best performance, and that’s all I was focused on. So, whatever you’re going through, when the door closes, it’s war time.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

UFC 310 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: 2024 total passes $8 million

The UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program has now paid out more than $8 million to athletes in 2024 under the Venum deal.

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 310 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $368,500.

The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.

UFC 310 took place at T-Mobile Arena. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN+.

The full UFC 310 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Alexandre Pantoja[/autotag]: $42,000
def. [autotag]Kai Asakura[/autotag]: $32,000

[autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Alexander Volkov[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Bryce Mitchell[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Kron Gracie[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Dooho Choi[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Nate Landwehr[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Anthony Smith[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Themba Gorimbo[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Bryan Battle[/autotag]: $6,000
[autotag]Randy Brown[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Eryk Anders[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Chris Weidman[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Joshua Van[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Cody Durden[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Michael Chiesa[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Max Griffin[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Chase Hooper[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Clay Guida[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Kennedy Nzechukwu[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Lukasz Brzeski[/autotag]: $6,000

Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2011 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $8,072,000
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $30,809,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

UFC 310 results: Dominick Reyes dominates, TKOs emotional Anthony Smith

Dominick Reyes picked up a dominant TKO win over Anthony Smith, who admitted he was overcome with emotions at UFC 310.

[autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag] picked up his second stoppage of the year by stopping an emotional Anthony Smith at UFC 310.

The light heavyweight contest served as the featured prelim of the event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Reyes (14-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) capped off a fantastic performance with a TKO stoppage at 4:46 of Round 2.

Emotions were on full display for Smith (38-21 MMA, 13-11 UFC) moments before the fight began. As Reyes walked out, Smith shed tears while waiting inside the cage, due to thoughts of the death of his close friend and coach Scott Morton.

Smith worked through the moment, and the fight began. Reyes and Smith traded solid punches and worked through clinch positions in an active opening start. After an accidental eye poke to Reyes, the fight resumed with Reyes building momentum.

Hard punches connected for Reyes, appearing to stun Smith at one moment. Smith answered with a few strikes, but then, he just dropped his hands and let Reyes score a series of flush punches down the middle.

Smith started Round 2 with forward pressure, looking for a single leg takedown. He got stuck in the position, and ate a series of hard short punches while still holding onto Reyes’ leg. Eventually, Smith dropped to the canvas and Reyes poured on the strikes from the top.

Reyes continued to unload punches on a turtled Smith as referee Marc Goddard warned Smith to move. More strikes connected with no improvement from Smith, and Goddard decided to call the fight.

While Reyes celebrated, Smith began to remove his gloves.

Smith was given a chance to speak on the microphone, where he said he was unsure how many times he could compete without his coach by his side. “Lionheart” admitted he was unable to control his emotions when he made the walk, and it carried over into the fight.

Smith didn’t commit to retirement, but said it would “probably” be his last fight.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 310 results include:

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

Dominick Reyes sympathizes with UFC 310 opponent Anthony Smith’s hardship, but ‘not my problem’

Dominick Reyes knows his UFC 310 opponent, Anthony Smith, is dealing with a personal tragedy but remains solely focused on getting a win.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag] knows his UFC 310 opponent Anthony Smith has been going through some personal struggles, but his sympathy stops when the cage door closes.

Reyes (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) meets Smith (37-20 MMA, 13-10 UFC) on the prelims of the final pay-per-view event of the year at T-Mobile Arena (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, Hulu, ESPN+). It’s a big fight for both former title challengers, but they enter with different mindsets. Reyes is eager to keep his momentum going, while Smith is just itching to just punch someone in the face.

Before Reyes took the mic at Wednesday’s media day, Smith sat in the same seat and expressed his desire to simply get in a fight and live with the result. This is partially due to a recent untimely death of a close friend and longtime coach Scott Morton. To put it bluntly, Smith said, “I don’t give a f*ck about winning.”

Reyes understands what his opponent is going through, but as someone who is coming off a victory that snapped a four-fight skid filled with hard lessons, “The Devastator” enters this fight focused on remaining in the win column.

“I came back against (Dustin) Jacoby, I was patient, I was smart, I was sharp – I was a veteran,” Reyes told reporters. “I’m a veteran now. Cool thing about it is I didn’t have to go through 40 fights to figure these things out. It’s three losses against the top guys in the world and I got to learn these lessons and now I’m here. I feel really, really good. I’m ready to keep climbing.”

The tough road started with a loss to former light heavyweight champ Jon Jones at UFC 247. Although some believe Reyes won that fight, the official judges did not. He went on to lose to two more former title holders in Jan Blachowicz and Jiri Prochazka. Ryan Spann was the fourth consecutive loss. Reyes then got on track in June with a first-round finish of Jacoby, and looks to close out 2024 with another victory.

“I’m expecting to win, that’s it,” Reyes said about his matchup with Smith. “I don’t care how it happens, but I’m expecting to win. I sympathize with a lot that Anthony is going through right now, but not my chair, not my problem.

“I got to handle my business for me and my family. However it all falls out, lays out, however God decides it’s going to go, that’s how it’s going to go.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

Anthony Smith set to face Dominick Reyes at UFC 310 in December

A pair of former UFC light heavyweight title challengers, Anthony Smith and Dominick Reyes, will clash at December’s pay-per-view.

The UFC is beginning to schedule fights for its December pay-per-view event, including matching up [autotag]Anthony Smith[/autotag] and [autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag].

At UFC 310 on Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, former light heavyweight title challengers Smith (37-20 MMA, 13-10 UFC) and Reyes (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) are set to face off.

UFC officials announced the bout Saturday following an initial report from MMA Mania’s Alex Behunin in August.

Smith, currently No. 12 in the promotion’s divisional rankings, will look to rebound from a loss to Roman Dolidze at UFC 303 in June, which continued a recent trend of trading wins and losses. Smith’s last win came in the fight prior at UFC 301, where he scored MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month for May against Vitor Petrino in just two minutes.

Reyes, currently ranked No. 14, will aim to keep his momentum going following a two-minute victory of his own. In his first fight since November 2022, Reyes returned to action and quickly finished Dustin Jacoby in the first round at UFC on ESPN 57. Not only was the result a successful return after a lengthy layoff, the win snapped a four-fight skid that stretched back to his controversial title challenge loss vs. Jon Jones at UFC 247 in 2020.

The latest UFC 310 lineup now includes:

  • Dominick Reyes vs. Anthony Smith
  • Virna Jandiroba vs. Tatiana Suarez

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Jon Jones claps back at Dominick Reyes over claims of beating him in 2020 UFC title fight

Heavyweight champ Jon Jones claps back at former rival Dominick Reyes over claims of beating him in their title fight at UFC 247.

[autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] has fired back at his former rival [autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag].

On Tuesday, the UFC heavyweight champion took to X to respond to Reyes’ recent comments, claiming that he had defeated Jones in their light heavyweight title fight at UFC 247 in 2020. Although an official unanimous decision win for Jones, many online criticized the scoring of the fight and had Reyes winning. Reyes also believes he got the job done, and spoke his mind on the subject once again in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani.

“What a claim to fame, almost beat John Jones,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “Got full of myself and literally couldn’t win another fight.”

 After losing to Jones in 2020, Reyes went on to get stopped three consecutive times. Reyes returned to the win column this past Saturday, putting away Dustin Jacoby at UFC on ESPN 57.

Jones claims he didn’t watch the fight, but his advice still stands. 

“Dominic, when you look back at our fight, I don’t want you to ever question me or those judges,” Jones wrote. “Look at your own heart, your own endurance, you didn’t do enough. The sooner you accept that, the better athlete you’ll become.”

The victory over Reyes was Jones final fight and title defense at light heavyweight. Shortly after the bout, Jones vacated his title and then took a three-year hiatus from the sport. He returned in March 2023, defeating Ciryl Gane for the vacant UFC heavyweight title.

Jones is currently getting back to training after recovering from surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle. He’s expected to return in November to make his first heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic.

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Video: Early stoppage? Reviewing Jared Cannonier’s TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov

The “Spinning Back Clique” panel makes a final verdict on whether referee Jason Herzog robbed Jared Cannonier with an early stoppage at UFC Louisville.

On the latest episode of “Spinning Back Clique,” the panel reacts to the stoppage in [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag]’s TKO loss to [autotag]Nassourdine Imavov[/autotag], along with other important results at UFC on ESPN 57.

This past Saturday at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ken., the result of the UFC event headliner left the MMA world with plenty to talk about.

Imavov (14-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) defeated veteran Cannonier (17-7 MMA, 10-7 UFC) in what many online deemed to be a questionable stoppage by referee Jason Herzog. 

The card also saw former light heavyweight title challenger [autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag] snap his four-fight losing skid, [autotag]Raul Rosas Jr.[/autotag] submit Ricky Turcios and more.

Was the main event stoppage early? Is Reyes back? Where does Rosas go next?

MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Dan Tom, Danny Segura and host “Gorgeous” George Garcia discuss the results from UFC on ESPN 57.

Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/live/uamVKNuYxEU

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Spinning Back Clique REPLAY: Imavov-Cannonier ends in controversy, Conor McGregor & UFC 303 drama, more

On “Spinning Back Clique,” our panel recaps the results from UFC on ESPN 57, discusses the latest of the Conor McGregor drama, and much more.

Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.

This week’s panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Dan Tom and Danny Segura will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate the following topics:

  • UFC on ESPN 57 went down this past Saturday, and it left the MMA world with plenty to talk about. In the main event,
    [autotag]Nassourdine Imavov[/autotag] defeated veteran [autotag]Jared Cannonier [/autotag] in what many online deemed to be a questionable stoppage. This card also saw [autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag] snap a four-fight losing skid, [autotag]Raul Rosas Jr.[/autotag] submit [autotag]Ricky Turcios[/autotag], and more. We take a close look and break down the key results of the card.
  • [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag] dominated the news – or actually the lack of this past week. The MMA superstar wasn’t able to make it for the UFC 303 press conference on Monday, canceling the event entirely. He then posted a cryptic tweet along with a captionless photo in what looked to be a physicians’ office. [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] also aired his frustration, announcing that he’ll be leaving his training camp in South Florida to return to his home in Tennessee. What is going on? Will the UFC 303 main event happen? We discuss.
  • A few things also happened in the boxing world in connection to MMA. [autotag]Jake Paul[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Mike Tyson[/autotag] got a new date after their original date was canceled due to a health issue from Tyson’s part. [autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag] and [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag]’s teams got into a brawl in the latest press conference promoting their upcoming boxing match on July 6. What’s the interest level on these fights? The panel weighs-in.
  • There we many other stories present in the always-busy MMA world. Each member of the “Spinning Back Clique” panel highlights one story that caught their attention this past week.

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Ex-UFC title challenger Dominick Reyes relieved to snap skid: ‘I’m not going anywhere’

Ex-UFC title challenger Dominick Reyes can breathe a little easier now that he’s back in the win column UFC on ESPN 57.

[autotag]Dominick Reyes[/autotag] took a huge load off his shoulders Saturday.

The former UFC title challenger snapped a four-fight skid and maybe saved his UFC career when he stopped Dustin Jacoby in the co-main event of UFC on ESPN 57 at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.

Entering the event, Reyes (13-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) hadn’t fought in two years due to health issues, and defeating Jacoby (19-9-1 MMA, 7-6-1 UFC) was a must.

“It’s a relief, absolutely,” Reyes told reporters at his post-fight press conference. “When he hit me, that was a relief. I was like, ‘I’m still here.’ I had so many questions, and I was questioning myself, and then I saw my performance, and I was like, ‘Wow.’ I felt it out there. I really do love this, and I’m not going anywhere.”

Reyes aims to make another title run again, but this time become champion. Reyes had a 12-0 to the start of his MMA career before losing to Jon Jones in a very close fight for the light heavyweight title. It was that defeat that sparked the subsequent, three consecutive stoppage losses.

The 34-year-old believes a title will always be in reach at light heavyweight, but it was just about getting back to the win column.

“It’s a little different with my division. You show a couple of good performances, you show the world who you are and do your thing, and you’re right back in the conversation,” Reyes said. “It was never like, ‘Oh, I’m never going back to the title,’ because I know who I am and what I’m capable (of).

“I was just not believing in myself and doubting everything I was doing: ‘I can’t even win a fight, how am I going to go for the title?’ So that wasn’t even in my mind. You just have to win and get back to being you.”

Reyes doesn’t have a specific name or date when it comes to his return to the octagon. He likes the idea of fighting in September at UFC 306, but is not married to any specific thing.

“It’s more about the timing vs. the opponent,” Reyes said. “Obviously, I want to move up and work towards the title again, but we’ll see. I don’t have anybody in mind. If people want to call me out, cool. That gives me more options. They do my manager’s job for me. I have a great manager, I have a great team, and we’ll figure out what’s next.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 57.