Unfortunately for Reyes, his career began a major downswing since that night. He was knocked out in his next three fights, although he is now back in the win column with two stoppages of his own as he relaunches his pursuit of gold.

Jon Jones slams rival who still feels he beat UFC legend

Jon Jones is never one to back down from defending himself, particularly if he feels he is being treated unfairly. And after catching a clip on social media of Reyes claiming he had won their fight, he insisted on commenting back.

He joked that the only way his rival will ever get a legitimate win over him would be in a game of ‘rock, paper, scissors’. He even offered him a stipulation that might guarantee him at least one victory even if Jones stayed supreme.

“Dominick let’s play a game of rock paper scissors,” Jones wrote in the comments section. “Best two out of three. That way you can finally possibly beat me at something -so I don’t have to hear these stories 40 years from now.

Dominick Reyes believes he did enough to beat Jon Jones

The clip that Jones saw was being shared around social media from a post where Reyes was appearing on a podcast and discussing the fight. He claimed that Jones knows who truly won, despite how the scorecards read.

“I’m mentally stronger than him, physically stronger than him and I beat him,” Reyes said during an appearance on the Gypsy Tales Podcast. “Two judges had me losing that first round, I don’t know dude.

“It’s one of those things where you spar with people, train with people and you know who wins. It doesn’t have to be the judges, you know who won and he knows who won… It was, like, underwhelming because I thought he was going to be better.

“The first time we jostled for position and I pushed him against the cage I elbowed him over the top and that was super clean. I was like ‘that’s it’… That’s why people are like ‘you can’t leave it in the judges’ hands’.”

He has since become a successful coach, cornering Islam Makhachev and Usman Nurmagomedov to their lightweight title wins in UFC and Bellator respectively. He is also involved in the coaching of PFL’s 2024 champion Gadhzi Rabadanov, meaning his gym has all three fighters.

Khabib Nurmagomedov predicted UFC retirement years before it happened

Khabib Nurmagomedov spent years as a terrifying and dominant champion in the UFC, with many fans feeling he would never be defeated. He won the belt in controversial fashion by only beating Al Iaquinta, but proceeded to dominate Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier in his first two defences.

However, when he hung up the gloves after beating Gaethje, fans were shocked. But a new video uncovered by Red Corner MMA shows that he had planned to get out for years, noting the difficulties that come with being a top level fighter.

“My plan is because I am 24 if I win the belt and I stay undefeated, most likely I will leave the sport,” Nurmagomedov explained at the time. “Because it has no end. So if I can win the title and stay undefeated I’ll retire.”

Dana White begged Khabib Nurmagomedov to return

Following his retirement, Dana White refused to admit that Khabib’s career was truly done for months. He continued to offer the former champion comeback opportunities for monster purses, but was rebuked at every opportunity.

“The truth is, he is not committed to anything,” White said at the time, before a failed effort. “What he has committed to is meeting with me next month. We’re going to find out how persuasive I can be. I’ll bet on me every time.”

It took until the following May, almost a year after the emotional moment in Abu Dhabi, for White to set up a vacant title fight. Charles Oliveira defeated Michael Chandler to take the belt, and eventually ended up being defeated by Nurmagomedov’s protege Makhachev.

Since then, Makhachev has made a case for being the greatest lightweight of all time by defending his title actively. He has broke the record for most defences with wins over Poirier, Alexander Volkanovski and Renato Moicano, with Ilia Topuria now emerging as a top challenger.

Dober and Manuel Torres treated fans to quite the show in the UFC Mexico City co-main event. It was a pivotal lightweight matchup between two of the division’s high-octane brawlers, and the action didn’t disappoint.

But despite Torres vs. Dober playing out almost exactly how many fans expected, it didn’t play out without some controversy.

UFC fan favorite speaks on controversial KO loss at UFC Mexico City

Midway through the first round, Torres landed a stiff jab with a straight right that landed flush to Dober’s chin. Dober quickly dropped to the canvas when Torres countered a desperate Dober takedown attempt with standing hammer fists as Dober attempted a single-leg.

After a slew of Torres’s punches went unanswered during the exchange, referee Mike Beltran brought the fight to a screeching halt and awarded Torres the TKO victory. Dober immediately looked perplexed in the stoppage, but appeared visibly wobbled and stunned as officials attempted to explain to him what had happened.

Dober struck an honest tone in his first post-fight statement after UFC Mexico City.

In a recent statement to X, Dober shut down retirement talk after UFC Mexico City and reacted to the controversial stoppage.

“Well, that sucked,” Dober began. A beautifully timed one two by Manuel Torres. There’s not much to go off of other than, unfortunately, stepping in front of the rear hand of a long power puncher.

“As much as I love Mexico City, it’s given me two of my most embarrassing losses of my career, haha. But the food and people are still the best. I’m happy and healthy and excited to be a stay at home dad for a while.”

Dober could take some time off after his third consecutive loss, and fourth defeat in his last five fights. Before the loss to Torres, Dober lost back-to-back fights with Renato Moicano and Jean Silva.

‘Middleweight Francis Ngannou’ stole the show at UFC Mexico City

Torres vs. Dober was far from the only major highlight from a stacked card at UFC Mexico City. A 22-year-old debutant, Ateba Gautier, drew comparisons to Francis Ngannou with a wicked knockout on the UFC Mexico City prelims.

Boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. walked Ronaldo Rodriguez out to the Octagon for his matchup with Kevin Borjas. But despite the fanfare, Rodriguez suffered his first UFC defeat by unanimous decision.

Not all of the highlights took place within the fights themselves. UFC Octagon announcer Bruce Buffer had a rare mishap when he announced one of the prelim fight’s winners incorrectly, prompting a wild response on social media.

In the co-main event, Mexico’s Manuel Torres stopped Drew Dober in brutal fashion to bounce back into the win column at lightweight and pocket a performance of the night bonus.

The fight lasted less than two minutes with some fans even calling for Dober to think about retirement after losing in each of his last three outings.

Though the American attempted to recover by grabbing his opponent’s legs, it only made him a sitting target for some devastating follow-up shots with many believing that the fight should have been stopped before the final barrage landed.

Jon McCarthy highlights the impact of hammer fists when discussing controversial stoppage

During a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast, veteran referee turned commentator ‘Big’ John McCarthy gave his thoughts on the stoppage.

The iconic official first stepped inside the Octagon at UFC 2 in 1994 having played a major part in creating the Unified Rules of MMA before retiring from being a referee in 2018.

McCarthy wasn’t overly critical of Mike Beltran who was the third man inside the Octagon for the co-main event in Mexico City at 155-pounds.

He did acknowledge that the stoppage could have come earlier but explained why Beltran was forced into a difficult decision after it looked like Drew Dober might be able to recover until Manuel Torres started to reign down shots.

Those shots in particular are what McCarthy focused on as he pointed out how some people might take the impact and force of a hammer fist for granted without realizing how damaging they can truly be.

“The stoppage was a little slow when you look at it. It was good but it was a little slow because of the uniqueness of what you watched off of the way he went down and then the way he just stayed in one spot eating 15 shots that were hard and again, people think, ‘Oh a hammer fist’. Hammer fists have power.

“I just don’t know how to tell you man, don’t let someone get a free shot on the side of your noggin with a good hammer first because we’ve done studies on all that stuff and you’ll get people able to throw a hammer fist every bit as hard as someone throwing a straight shot.”

‘Well, that sucked.’… Drew Dober reflects on his fourth knockout loss

Drew Dober has built a reputation for being a kill or be killed fighter inside the Octagon with 20 of his 27 pro wins coming via finish.

The down side to that is that Dober has been on the wrong end of this live by the sword approach in recent times with just one win in his last five outings.

On the day after his loss to Manuel Torres in Mexico, the 36-year-old fan favorite posted the following statement on X where he admitted making a mistake and praised his opponent for capitalizing on it.

“Well, that sucked. A beautifully timed one two by Manuel Torres. There’s not much to go off of other than, unfortunately, stepping in front of the rear hand of a long power puncher.

It appears that Dober isn’t making any drastic decisions right now so his 26th appearance inside the Octagon will likely come later this year.

On Friday, a day before his fight against Kevin Borjas, ‘Lazy Boy’ missed weight, weighing in at 127lbs and opting to not cut any more weight, forfeiting 20% of his purse to Borjas.

Despite that, the Mexican prospect remained hopeful that he could pick up his third UFC win in a row, thus climbing ever closer to the flyweight rankings.

Ronaldo Rodriguez breaks silence with a message to his fans

However, the 25-year-old was handed his first loss under the UFC banner, as Borjas sailed to a unanimous decision win, upsetting the home crowd.

One of the most memorable moments from the fight was when Rodriguez was dropped by Borjas but instantly sprung back to his feet in a completely unique way, shocking the commentary team.

Although his fans were upset by his loss, Rodriguez attempted to remain in positive spirits following his loss.

“F—, we lost but put on a show! That is what matters. Laugh you idiots, why you guys acting all depressed? Keep your head up,” Rodriguez said in a post on his Instagram whilst in the car with his team.

Despite still being extremely young in his UFC tenure, Rodriguez has already amassed over 2 million followers on Instagram, making him one of the most followed non-champions in the promotion.

What’s next for Ronaldo Rodriguez following his first UFC loss?

With this being Rodriguez’s first loss in the UFC, it is important that the promotion doesn’t match him up unfavorably next time out.

A potential fight against Spanish flyweight Daniel Barez would be a guaranteed banger for the fans and would give both fighters the chance to return to the win column.

Failing that, an all-Mexican affair between Rodriguez and Victor Altimarano at the UFC’s Noche event in Guadalijara could produce fireworks.

With back-to-back wins and impressive performances under his belt, ‘The Assassin Baby’ is in the title picture once again having lost the belt at UFC 290.

He does have some competition for the next title shot with the likes of Kai Kara-France and Manel Kape also vying to face Alexandre Pantoja next.

The other major factor is the fact that the Mexican star has already suffered multiple losses to the Brazilian champion and whilst a fourth fight between them could definitely go Moreno’s way, Pantoja has come out on top each and every time.

Brandon Moreno says he moves the needle more than the other contenders at flyweight

Alexandre Pantoja has already beaten all of the contenders who are currently in and around the title picture right now.

‘The Cannibal’ has beaten Brandon Moreno three times, Brandon Royval twice, Manel Kape once in 2021 and Kai Kara-France back during their time on The Ultimate Fighter in 2016.

It looks like Kape may be the most logical option right now considering the run that he has been on in recent times and the fact that his loss to Pantoja came on his UFC debut after he signed with the promotion from RIZIN.

However, Moreno is continuing to look back to his best and his performances are earning him a lot of praise even if the idea of seeing him face Pantoja again isn’t the most exciting matchup.

If he continues to win and beat other flyweight contenders, he’ll make himself undeniable for another crack at his great rival.

During the post-show on ESPN after his win over Steve Erceg, Moreno was asked what he wants next.

In response, he provided a reason why he might get the title shot over the other names at the top of the weight class right now despite them also being deserving of the opportunity.

“I mean, I want to fight for the title. The division right now is kind of weird. Manel deserve the title, Kai Kara-France deserve the title, Royval deserve the title and right now, with this victory, I think I can raise a little bit of my hand so I don’t know. I mean I have to use this card where I don’t know how much I move the needle but I really believe I move the needle more than the other guys.”

Brandon Moreno isn’t wrong but that might not help him

When it comes to the reaction that they get from the fans, Brandon Moreno is probably right that he does move the needle more than the other names in contention.

The problem lies with the matchup itself so whilst Moreno does move the needle, a fourth fight with Alexandre Pantoja might not even if their last encounter at UFC 290 was one of the best fights of 2023.

That’s likely why Manel Kape is the frontrunner right now because a fight between him and Pantoja offers something new even if it’s a clash of styles that we’ve seen before.

Even after two impressive performances since returning from a brief hiatus, Moreno might still need one more definitive statement in order to fight for the 125-pound gold once again.

However, Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s hype train was almost derailed at UFC 148 in July 2012.

‘The Eagle’ entered as the underdog against Gleison Tibau, who managed to stop all 13 of the Russian wrestler’s takedown attempts, land one of his own, and outstrike him to seemingly do enough to win a decision – but that’s not what happened.

Khabib Nurmagomedov bounced back from UFC ‘loss’ with KO

Bizarrely, all three judges scored the fight 30-27 in favor of Nurmagomedov, who cried when the controversial decision was announced.

UFC legend Joe Rogan was stunned by the scorecards, saying ‘Wow’ after they were confirmed.

Nurmagomedov was 18-0, but looked like a man with a point to prove in his next outing.

The 36-year-old fight legend squared off against Thiago Tavares at UFC Sao Paulo in January 2013.

After a tentative opening minute, Nurmagomedov leaped in with a devastating punch to drop Tavares.

The hometown favorite crashed to the floor before being finished with a series of nasty ground strikes.

Nurmagomedov dropped elbows that had Tavares’ head bouncing on the floor after he’d been rendered unconscious in a statement win from the lightweight prospect, who is arguably the best 155lb fighter of all time.

Will Khabib Nurmagomedov ever fight again?

In October 2024, Nurmagomedov responded to rumors about his potential return to the UFC.

“There is no chance, none. Not even 1%, minus [chance],” he said.

“If you guys need champions, I’m helping my brothers to become champions… We have Islam [Makhachev] as a champion, we have Umar [Nurmagomedov] as the next contender, we have Usman [Nurmagomedov] as champion – we have a lot of champions.

“You guys are never going to miss me because in our team and our gym, we create champions – you guys are always going to have champions, don’t worry.”

The 22-year-old was matched up against fellow DWCS alum, Jose Medina, who earned his contract despite losing during his opportunity.

Ahead of his fight on DWCS, the UFC broadcast pitched Gautier as the only fighter ever to fight in the promotion from Cameroon, dismissing Francis Ngannou‘s incredible career under the UFC banner.

Ateba Gautier backed to become UFC world champion following debut KO

Having already drawn comparisons to the former UFC heavyweight champion, Gautier continued receiving the comparisons when he knocked out Medina in the first round.

The Cameroonian’s emphatic full-striking arsenal was on display as he teed off on Medina with heavy punches before unleashing a hellacious knee up the middle, sinking Medina to the ground.

However, the 22-year-old has received even bigger praise from some of the MMA world, being labeled as a future UFC world champion.

British UFC star, Lerone Murphy, said: “Watch Ateba now. Different breed. Gautier next world champion. 22-year-old killer!”

Gautier has spent time training at Manchester Top Team, the same gym Murphy trains at, head coached by Carl Prince.

What’s next for Ateba Gautier?

With the Cameroonian being just 22 years old, there is no need for the promotion to rush his run.

Having said that, with there being a lot of hype around him at the moment, the UFC may attempt to keep him as active as possible.

A fight against someone like Dusko Todorovic could serve Gautier well for his next outing, with Todorovic being well-experienced in the promotion.

The 185lb division is going through somewhat of a transitional period towards the top with former champions like Israel Adesanya, Robert Whittaker, and Sean Strickland all coming off losses and taking up spots in the top 5.

Despite that, the division is still ruled by Dricus Du Plessis, whose next title defense will likely come against Khamzat Chimaev.

In November, the Hall of Famer expressed his desire to mount an incredible comeback for a fight with Jake Paul, promising to knock the YouTuber-turned-boxer out in 30 seconds after he labored to a decision win over 58-year-old Mike Tyson.

Now he’s asked Michael Bisping what would happen if they clashed in a no-holds-barred street fight.

Michael Bisping breaks down Carl Froch street fight

Froch has repeatedly wondered how he’d fare in a fight with an MMA star ‘on the cobbles’.

So, naturally, street fighting came up during his conversation with the best British fighter in UFC history.

“I’ll just take you down. You’ll be down on your back in no time,” Bisping playfully predicted.

‘The Count’ tried to steer the conversation in another direction before Froch brought it back to their hypothetical street fight.

“If me and you ended up having a roll around on the cobbles,” he said.

“I mean, if it was a roll around, I’d be bang in trouble. But I think I could keep you at range for a bit behind that jab and try to… I don’t know. I’m talking myself into something that’s not going to happen, and if it did, I could be in serious trouble.”

Bisping replied: “Mate, listen. There’s no d— measuring contest here, but I will say this…

“I think you’d be surprised [laughs]. I was known for my hands back in the day, Carl. Come on, buddy.”

Michael Bisping is still sparring

Bisping famously fought with one eye for the last few years of his Hall of Fame UFC career.

Since retiring in 2018, the 46-year-old has gone under the knife for several painful injuries.

In November, during an exclusive interview with Bloody Eblow, Bisping opened up about a gruesome neck injury he suffered in 2013, which has led to several surgeries and still causes him issues 12 years later.

Despite everything, Bisping was recently filmed sparring at a gym owned by UFC star Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera.

Luke Rockhold was the MMA legend’s greatest rival, but even he respects Bisping’s desire to fight through the pain.

“Brought in the secret weapon for training camp,” the man Bisping knocked out to become a UFC champion wrote on Instagram.

“Honestly, mad respect to @bisping for still wanting to scrap after everything he’s been through.

“Fighting truly brings out the best of us.”