Dominick Reyes believes Anthony Smith can defeat Jon Jones at UFC 235

As Jon Jones returns to the top of the light heavyweight division as champion, he has seen and heard from new names and faces coming after the belt. One of those fresh faces will be his next opponent Anthony Smith, who Jones is scheduled to defend his title against in the main event slot at UFC 235, on March 2, in Las Vegas.

While many, including the oddsmakers, believe this matchup will look very one-sided for the champion, Anthony Smith and others don’t seem to be intimidated by Jones.

Smith isn’t alone in his thinking that Jon Jones can be defeated. Another surging light heavyweight contender Dominick Reyes believes Smith has a good chance to beat Jones in their upcoming fight.

During an interview with MMAJunkie Radio, Reyes made it known that while he would love to be the one to defeat Jones himself, he believes Anthony Smith can get it done as well.

“I want Jones to win, but I think Smith can catch him,” he said. “Smith is a tough competitor, he throws hands. If he goes out there and throws caution to wind, he might get him.”

For Reyes, knowing how good Jones is as a fighter is one thing, but when it comes to facing him, he says the best strategy is to ignore that you’re fighting Jon Jones.

“When you fight Jones, you’ve got to look at this, he’s got master strategists in his corner, he always follows the game plan,” he said. “You need to understand, how will you beat yourself? Then you need to adapt, just like he adapts mid-fight. You kind of have to go ‘F the Jon Jones lore.’ You’ve got to forget that.”

When it’s all said and done, Dominick Reyes recognizes that Jon Jones is a great fighter, but he’s just a person. And any person can be beaten.

“He’s just a man, fight him,” he said. “Don’t be scared of him. Those things you need to beat Jones. I’m going to beat Jones if nobody else does.”

Do you think Jon Jones will be able to survive this latest wave of contenders in Anthony Smith and Dominick Reyes?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 1/10/2019.