205-pound fight between Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz is in the works for Sept. 26
UFC light heavyweight contender Dominick Reyes took to Instagram and shared exciting news with the MMA community. ‘The Devastator’ teased fight fans by not revealing who his upcoming opponent would be. And now we know.
The UFC is working on booking a light heavyweight bout between Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz for its UFC 253 pay-per-view lineup on Sept. 26, according to ESPN.
MMA reporter Brett Okamoto broke the news:
Breaking: A 205-pound fight between Dominick Reyes (@DomReyes) and Jan Blachowicz (@JanBlachowicz) is in the works for Sept. 26. The fight is nearly agreed to, but the stakes are being worked out. UFC is working with current champ Jon Jones right now to figure out his next move. pic.twitter.com/lHy7GUfX2Q
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) August 17, 2020
Reyes, of California, has only lost to Jones in his professional career. Blachowicz (26-8) has been on a tear as of late, winning seven of his last eight contests, including stoppages over Corey Anderson, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Luke Rockhold.
The fight is nearly finalized, however the stakes have not yet been defined. The UFC is in contact with current light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, in regards to the future of his career.
Reyes, 12-1, is coming off a controversial decision in many eyes, against Light Heavyweight greatest of all time and champ Jon Jones. Nine of Reyes’ 12 victories have ended before going to judges, he has four technical knockouts, three knockouts and two submissions. Before the Jones fight, he stopped Chris Weidman in the first round of the fight which earned “Performance of the Night” bonus. Prior the that “The Devastator” took a split decision against former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir, and a unanimous decision against former interim title challenger Ovince Saint Preux. Reyes, 29, has dominated the competition since his UFC arrival back in 2017. With a total Octagon record of 6-1, including a first-round knockout finish over former UFC middleweight champion.
The Polish superstar has won back-to-back fights. After knocking out Corey Anderson and Luke Rockhold at UFC 239 in July, Blachowicz also spoiled Ronaldo Souza’s light heavyweight debut by split decision at UFC on ESPN+ 22. The 36-year-old Pole emerged as a dark horse contender at light heavyweight, winning four straight bouts before losing his last fight against Thiago Santos in February 2019, then bouncing back with three wins back to back, one of the being a former UFC champion.
A middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa is scheduled to headline UFC 253 at a location to be determined.
