Dominick Reyes is back on the winning track but he has more than just his rediscovered in-cage success to be thankful for.
Ahead of a pivotal main event clash with Carlos Ulberg this Saturday at UFC Perth, Reyes spoke to Submission Radio about the most important factor to turning his career around following a four-fight slump. Reyes announced in April 2024 he was dealing with deep-vein thrombosis (a blood disorder) and that battle put everything else into perspective.
“I think a lot of it happened when I was living day to day with my deep-vein thrombosis and my doctor said, ‘Hey man, if you wake up today, then good on you. If you don’t, well, then it didn’t work out,’” Reyes said. “So I was living literally day to day, kind of as we all should really, and it was like a very profound experience, like I felt God, I felt His energy. He’s 100% real. I have no question in my mind at all that this is only a small piece of eternity.
“I had a very profound experience. I’m just grateful to still be able to fight and be on this platform and then
once I win and when I win or lose or whatever happens, I can still shout his name on top of the roofs and still get
people to see the light. That’s my mission now in my life is to bring people to the light.”
Reyes and Ulberg were twice previously booked to fight, with an Ulberg injury postponing their first meeting and then Reyes’ thrombosis diagnosis forcing him to withdraw from the re-booking. Now, they battle under different circumstances, with Reyes streaking in the opposite direction on the strength of three straight victories and Ulberg having strung together eight consecutive victories.
There’s no looking past Ulberg if Reyes wants another shot at the UFC light heavyweight title, which fell just out of reach when he lost a controversial decision to Jon Jones at UFC 247 in February 2020. It seems odd to think Reyes could steal Ulberg’s spot, but Reyes has a theory as to why Ulberg hasn’t cemented a championship opportunity yet.
“He is a great fighter and he’s very dangerous,” Reyes said. “He has wins where he squeaked by and that’s not how you get known and loved and respected in the UFC, that’s just not how it works. This is the entertainment industry and if you’re not entertaining the people, if you’re not going out there and putting your soul out there for them and taking risks, then they’re not going to respect you. That’s just how it goes.
“I’ve learned that the hard way because I always just go out on my shield or I put people down. That’s my fighting style and it’s very exciting and people like to see me fight.”
Even with a win, Reyes isn’t going to call for an immediate title shot, especially if his friend Alex Pereira is victorious at UFC 320 on Oct. 4. Instead, he plans to head home and focus fully on the birth of his first child, then looks to see where he fits in the contender picture when he’s ready to get back in the octagon.
“I’ve just got to beat up Carlos, go home, have my son, and then everything will kind of shake out how it should,” Reyes said. “But since I’m having my son in December, it would make sense for me to just wait for the winner of [Khalil Rountree Jr. vs. Jiri Prochazka] to fight the winner of the [UFC 320] main event and then come back when I can sleep again.”
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VIDEO STEW
Damon Martin speaks to coach John Wood about Merab Dvalishvili’s upcoming title fight.
Alex Pereira training.
DC interviews Merab Dvalishvili.
DC and Max Holloway talking about UFC 300.
Michael Bisping previews UFC Perth.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Roller coaster.
Big Ank feeling frisky.
High praise.
Clarity.
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Cris Cyborg (28-2) vs. Sara Collins (6-0); PFL Lyon, Dec. 13.
Vadim Nemkov (19-2) vs. Renan Ferreira (13-4); PFL Lyon, Dec. 13.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Look, UFC Perth is a bad card. Straight up, just not a good fight card. But I’m pretty interested in the main event, if only because this resurgence from Dominick Reyes has been terrific. Here’s a guy who looked poised to be one of the biggest What Ifs in the history of MMA — What if the judges didn’t rob him against Jon Jones? — but has now turned his career around from the brink. If he can find a way to beat Ulberg on Saturday, he’s fighting for a title again, which is inspiring stuff.
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