EXCLUSIVE | Dominick Reyes predicts Alexander Gustafsson will defeat Jon Jones

Undefeated UFC light heavyweight contender Dominick Reyes recently divulged that he’s interested in competing at UFC 232 this December 29 so that he’s in a position to step up if either Jon Jones or Alexander Gustafsson is unable to compete in the card’s main event as planned.

But if the main event does go as planned, and Jones and Gustafsson both make it to the cage, who does Dominick Reyes think will win? Although he knows he’s in the minority, he’s leaning toward Gustafsson.

“I have to go with [Gustafsson],” Reyes said on episode 102 of BJPENN.COM Radio. “He’s been more active, he’s had less turmoil in his life, he’s not worried about fighting clean for the first time in years.”

“I’ll have to go with Gus on this one. I know Jones is Jones, I get it. But there’s a lot of factors here.”

While Reyes believes Gustafsson will come out on top on the UFC 232 main event, he added that he hopes Jon Jones win, as Jones represents a bigger fight for him in the future.

“Even though I like Gus and I think he’s going to win, [the bigger fight for me] would be Jones,” he said. “Because it’s Jones.”

For Dominick Reyes, it’s hard to imagine a more mammoth accomplishment than beating Jon Jones, who is widely regarded as the best light heavyweight fighter of all time.

“‘Oh you beat Jones! Holy shit!,'” Reyes said, imagining the reactions of his fans if he defeated the light heavyweight legend. “I mean, beating Jones…he’s considered the greatest light heavyweight of all time. With an asterisk of course, of course.”

At this point, it’s hard for many fans to imagine anybody beating Jon Jones. In Dominick Reyes’ eyes, however, he could be the man to do it. He believes that, at this point, there’s no limit to what he can accomplish in the Octagon.

“In a lot of people’s minds, he’s still The One,” he said of Jones. “So it’s my intention to be ‘The One.’ The New One. So it goes. The way things are going, nothing’s out of the picture. Nothing’s out of the scope of possibility at this point. Anything’s possible. I could be champ by the end of the year if one of them doesn’t make weight and they want to keep me as alternate.”

What do you think of Dominick Reyes’ prediction for the UFC 232 main event?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/22/2018.