UFC 247: Dominick Reyes says Jon Jones knows he lost ‘deep down in his heart’ as judging controversy continues

Reyes wants to rematch Jones after unanimous decision loss and says Jones will want one ‘for his own mind’

Jones’ coach explains why his team scored the light heavyweight bout for Jones and concedes he was ‘scared’ in the first round

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Dominick Reyes (left) and Jon Jones share some exchanges during their UFC 247 headline event in Houston, Texas. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:34pm, 11 Feb 2020Updated: 4:34pm, 11 Feb 2020

Dominick Reyes says reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones knows “deep down” that he lost in their UFC 247 bout last weekend.

Jones (professional MMA record 26-1) defeated Reyes (12-1) via unanimous decision despite several viewers – including UFC president Dana White and commentator Joe Rogan – believing Reyes had won the fight three rounds to two.

One of the Texas commissioned judges scored the contest 49-46 in Jones’ favour, which caused White to call it “insane” and sparked important conversations over judging in MMA.

“When I heard the 49-46 [score announcement] I thought ‘heck yeah that sounds about right’. Then it was the other way and I was like ‘what, you’re gonna do me like this?” said a disappointed Reyes on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Tuesday.

“I just keep replaying it over and over in my mind – it sucks. I felt like I did everything in my power to win that fight. It felt like somebody took it away from me,” added Reyes, who suffered his first professional MMA loss. “I rewatched [rounds] four and five – I didn’t watch one to three because I knew I won that. I had him hurt in four, you could even argue 4-1 [to me].”