Jon Jones explains why he’s not a fan of Dominick Reyes

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is set to defend his title against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 on February 8. Initially, it seemed as though we were in for a cordial buildup to this fight. If Jones’ comments at the recent UFC 247 pre-fight press conference were any indication though, there’s plenty of trash talk coming our way.

At the press conference, Jones explained why Reyes rubs him the wrong way.

“Dominick wins his last fight, from out of nowhere, we’ve never met in person, I’ve never shaken the guy’s hand, and then the guy, instead of being just cordial or being a martial artist or showing a degree of respect, he gets on the microphone, young and immature, and goes, ‘I don’t need party favors; I need the world title.’ That’s how it started,” Jones said (via MMA Junkie). “But it’s all good. We’re here now. He got what he asked for, and I’m going to put my hands on him, and it’s going to be great.”

“I know nothing about him, honestly,” Jones continued. “I know nothing about him. I see the games that he wants to play with the insults, and I don’t really care. I don’t really care at the end of the day. My job is to destroy this dude and start focusing on 2020. I’m going to have a great 2020, and it’s going to start off by destroying Dominick. I don’t know what I want to do to him. I don’t know if I want to knock him out, choke him out, but oh, dude, I’m going to get him. I’m going to get him. I promise you guys.”

Jones also diminished Reyes’ skillset and recent knockout victory over former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman.

“You knocked out Chris Weidman. He’s been knocked out so many times. Good job,” Jones said to Reyes. “I don’t have to knock out people. I don’t have to knock out people. The only way you can possibly win this fight is to catch me with a left. We all know that. I could submit you, I could out-wrestle you, I can kickbox you to death. I’m going to get you. I’m going to get you, Dominick. You know it. You’re a one-trick pony. We saw your highlight reel. It was straight left, straight left, straight left.”

Who do you think will win when Dominick Reyes and Jon Jones collide at UFC 248?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 12/17/2019.