Jon Jones couldn’t resist. After Dominick Reyes name-checked him in a social media tirade aimed at Daniel Cormier following UFC 333, Jones went on X and told his old light heavyweight challenger it was time to get over UFC 247.
“Send this to him, I’m giving you a virtual hug. I hope one day you heal from such a defeat. Close but no cigar. Sweat more, pass that on to the next generation,” Jones wrote on October 25.
That’s a retired heavyweight champ stepping into a fight he wasn’t invited to. Except he sort of was.
How Jones Got Pulled In
Reyes had a big night in Abu Dhabi. In the featured prelim at Etihad Arena on October 24, “The Devastator” stopped Azamat Murzakanov in the first round, rocking him with a head kick, dropping him with a left hand and finishing with ground and pound. Murzakanov was the favorite. He came in off an upset loss to Paulo Costa, the first defeat of his career, and was expected to bounce back. Reyes had other plans, and he walked out with his second straight win.
Then he picked up his phone. Reyes didn’t like what he heard from Cormier on the broadcast, and he let the UFC Hall of Famer have it on X.
“Real talk, who actually likes hearing low iq hater a** DC?!” Reyes posted.
Somewhere in that run of posts, Reyes brought up the one opponent he and Cormier share.
“And no Jon jones didn’t whoop all of us, he whooped you! Bad! Multiple times. Kid,” Reyes wrote.
He’s got a point on the history. Jones beat Cormier twice in light heavyweight title fights, though the second win was overturned after Jones failed a drug test. Jones, apparently, didn’t love being used as ammunition.
The Fight That Never Goes Away
Reyes was the last man to fight Jones at 205 pounds. They went five rounds for the light heavyweight title at UFC 247, Jones got the decision, and a lot of fans still think Reyes deserved his hand raised. That’s the wound Jones was poking with the “heal from such a defeat” line.
UFC 247 kicked off a long layoff for Jones. He finally came back at UFC 285, beat Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight title, defended it against Stipe Miocic the following year at UFC 309 and later retired.
All of this happened on a card that deserved better than a Twitter scrap. UFC 333 ran 14 fights deep, with Petr Yan defending his title against Merab Dvalishvili and Alexander Volkanovski holding on to his belt against Movsar Evloev up top. The five-fight main card is already in the conversation for best of the year.
Quick Take
Reyes threw a jab at Cormier and Jones caught a stray, so I get why he answered. But the “virtual hug” bit lands because it’s the cruelest thing you can say to a guy who still believes he won: Jones gets to be gracious from the high ground of a scorecard. Reyes just flattened a favored Murzakanov and has two straight wins. He’d be better served spending this week calling out somebody at 205 who can actually step into a cage with him, because Jones has the W from UFC 247 and isn’t giving it back.
