UFC light heavyweight contender Dominick Reyes says he plans on walking out of UFC Fight Island with a belt over his shoulder, and says he’ll ignore the temptation of “money fights” to become a legitimate champion.
Speaking to the media ahead of his fight with Jan Blachowicz for the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 253, Reyes said he is totally unconcerned about fans who devalue the newly-vacated title because dominant former champion Jon Jones has relinquished the belt to move up to heavyweight.
“To be completely honest, I could give a sh*t less about what anybody has to say about my belt,” he said during media day in Abu Dhabi.
“At the end of the day, I’ll have a gold belt and I’ll have the money to match, so get the eff out of here with that.”
The American has seen the trend of fighters battling tooth and nail to earn a title shot, but then preferring to chase “money fights” rather than grant similar title shots to the contenders coming up behind them.
It’s something that Reyes says he won’t be repeating as he looks to become a legitimate, fighting champion by taking on the top contender and defending his title in the traditional, time-honored manner.
“I’m gonna take it one fight at a time,” he said.
“I want to be the best and I want to fight the best. It’s not about trying to fight money fights, or moving up and down divisions, all this BS. I want to make fighting great again, I guess you could say!
“Come on, man. Let’s fight the best and be a great champion. But I gotta win this fight first, and I’m 100 percent focused on Jan. Obviously I’m here, we’re here, and I’m ready to fight. I’m ready to cement my name in the record books.
“Not only are we on Fight Island here, that’s momentous enough, but I get to be crowned champion on Fight Island. That’s pretty epic, if you ask me.”
And when pressed for a prediction, all Reyes would say is that he will end up victorious. He’ll look for the finish, as always, but the most important thing for “The Devastator” is the result itself.
“I feel like I can get a stoppage, for sure,” he said.
“But, at the end of the day, all that matters to me is having my hand raised, so we’ll see how it goes.”
