Dominick Reyes releases statement after UFC 247 loss, proclaims himself the “People’s Champ”

UFC light heavyweight contender Dominick Reyes released a statement on social media following his loss to Jon Jones at UFC 247.

Reyes dropped a razor-thin unanimous decision to Jones in the main event of UFC 247 in his bid to capture the UFC light heavyweight championship. The judges scored the fight 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 in favor of Jones, though many fans, media, and even UFC president Dana White though the challenger did enough to get his hand raised.

Following the event, Reyes told the media that he felt like he did enough to get his hand raised and felt that he made Jones look mortal. The morning after the fight, Reyes took to social media to release a statement to his fans on Instagram proclaiming himself the “People’s Champ.” Check it out below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8WVuQRJ7ew/

“Wow! #ufc247 #peopleschamp”

Reyes added an additional comment on his Twitter page.

https://twitter.com/DomReyes/status/1226503293754576896

“That was Awesome!!! Thank you to everyone involved! Sucked!!!…but, I’m on it even tougher. #ufc247 #pplschamp”

Reyes put on an excellent performance against Jones despite officially walking away as the loser according to the judges. The first two rounds were all Reyes as he was able to box up Jones and inflict more damage on the champion than most of Jones’ past opponents have been able to. The third round saw Reyes slow down a bit but many still felt he was able to pull it out. The last two rounds saw Reyes slow down and Jones take them, which ultimately led to the champ defending his belt yet again.

Reyes is unlikely to garner an immediate rematch anytime soon, but perhaps if he’s able to get a few wins then he could once again appear on Jones’ radar. The champ is likely to take some time off to heal after this five-round war, with perhaps the winner of Corey Anderson vs. Jan Blachowicz being next in line for the title.

Do you consider Dominick Reyes the people’s champ in the UFC light heavyweight division?