UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones took to twitter on Tuesday night to respond to Dominick Reyes and other critics who feel that Reyes was 'robbed' in the main event of UFC 247. A majority of MMA fans and analysts seemed to share the belief that Reyes took the first three rounds, while Jones earned the "Championship Rounds," however the judges didn't see it that way.
According to Jones, fight fans shouldn't be upset with the judges but rather how Reyes "completely stopped fighting in the championship rounds."
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In a series of tweets, Jones defended the judges' ruling.
"Dominic out struck me by literally 12 shots. I scored the take downs, was the aggressor, control the octagon every round, had more significant strikes landed.. Dom completely stopped fighting in the championship rounds and has the audacity to be mad at the judges."
"Don’t be mad at the judges, be mad at Dom’s conditioning guy. man started to give up when the water got deep and is now going around doing interviews talking about being robbed. When will these young boys start taking responsibility that’s what’s wrong with boys these days."
Among Jones' twitter rant were a couple of messages that he later deleted, but not before fans could screenshot his comments. Two of his since-deleted tweets read:
"I feel like critics are throwing around the word robbed way too freely, there's a huge difference between a close fight and a flat out robbery."
"If anyone was robbed, it was Dom's fans, he robbed them of finishing the fight like a man. Going out on your shield isn't for everyone I guess."
As for the potential rematch that everyone seems to be calling for, Jones says, "Someone tell uncle Dana to give me a call." Check out his full string of tweets regarding UFC 247 below.
Joe Rogan’s UFC 247 Criticism Leads To Swift Response From Commission
Joe Rogan accused a UFC judge of not watching the fights.
UFC 247 was an exciting event that saw Jon Bones Jones defeat Dominick Reyes in a close fight. Many felt as though Reyes won but in the end, it was scored in favor of Jones. Quite a few fans had something to say about and the judges were put into question. During a preliminary bout between Andrea Lee and Lauren Murphy, UFC commentator Joe Rogan pointed out that a judge was looking at the ground instead of the actual fight. All throughout the evening, the judges were scrutinized and the Texas Department of Licensure and Regulation took notice.
Recently, the commission's spokesperson, Tela Mange, explained what went down and how Rogan's claims aren't 100 percent accurate. As they explained, there are monitors at the feet of each judge. These monitors give a closer look at what's happening. With this in mind, it's easy to see why Rogan would think the judge wasn't paying attention.
“Claims have been made that a judge was not paying attention to the fight and was looking down at the floor. One of the advances that UFC has made in the past several years has been to provide small video monitors below the floor level of the Octagon for each judge to more closely monitor matches,” Mange said the South China Morning Post.
Who do you think won the match between Jones and Reyes? Let us know in the comments, below.
Khabib’s Manager Calls McGregor A "Scumbag," Says Rematch Unlikely
Will there be a rematch between McGregor and Khabib?
Despite Conor McGregor‘s hopes, a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov seems unlikely, according to ESPN.
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Ali Abdelaziz, Khabib’s manager, told ESPN during UFC 247 that the fighter has no interest in a rematch with McGregor: “The only chance this fight could happen is in the street,” Abdelaziz said Saturday at UFC 247 at Toyota Center. “[McGregor would] have to do something spectacular. He’s shit, you understand?
“Conor McGregor is one of the biggest stars because he’s one of the biggest scumbags.”
During the build-up and follow-up to UFC 229, McGregor attacked Khabib’s Islamic faith, his culture, and his family. McGregor was also arrested for throwing a dolly at Khabib through a bus window in April 2018.
“Let’s be real,” Abdelaziz said. “We don’t like this guy. We’re never gonna like him. Probably every time we see him, there’s gonna be problems. He said things about family, things about religion, things about race. He crossed the line. … You can’t cross the line with [Nurmagomedov].”
McGregor is fresh off a victory against Donald Cerrone, where he won with a 40-second TKO.
Dana White and the UFC hope Khabib will be up for a rematch with McGregor following UFC 249, where Khabib will fight Tony Ferguson. White describes the potential fight to ESPN as a “legendary mega-fight,” which he compares to Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.
Jon Jones Bests Dominick Reyes In Grueling UFC 247 Victory
Jon Jones continued his unbeaten streak Saturday night.
In a record-setting bout to retain the UFC light heavyweight title, Jon Jones bested Dominick Reyes in UFC 247 Saturday night.
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While Jones won with a unanimous decision from the judges, his victory was anything but easy: “He landed some hard hits. The fans like it when they see me get hit — it doesn’t happen very often,” Jones said, according to ESPN. “But at the same time, I landed some takedowns. I got his back on more than one occasion. … A hard-earned victory but a victory.”
This was the first fight of Jones’s career in which he was outstruck. Final tallies mark Reyes at 116 significant strikes and Jones at 104. Despite the battle, Jones continues his record 18 fight undefeated streak in the UFC.
Dana White is hoping for a rematch. “Dominick Reyes would have knocked 100 percent of the people he fought out with the shots he hit Jones with tonight,” he said.
Reyes told reporters that he feels disrespected by the scoring: “I do feel disrespected. I know I won that fight. … I made Jon Jones look like just a man. I brought the fight to him.”
“That’s the way to make American history right there: hard-fought,” Jones said. “It wasn’t the most impressive victory, but nothing, absolutely nothing, that has never been done before is easy. It is never easy. I left it all out there, showed the heart of a champion in the fifth round, and it’s so sweet.
“Dominick did a tremendous job. Dominick, you have totally earned my respect, man.”
