Former light heavyweight title challenger Dominick Reyes is looking to snap a three-fight slide as he returns to action against Ryan Spann on Saturday night.
It’s been well over a year since Reyes last competed and a strange second career chapter for the talented fighter from Hesperia, California. After winning his first dozen fights, including each of his first five UFC appearances, Reyes faced Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title at UFC 247, dropping a unanimous decision in a bout many thought that he had won.
Jones eventually quit and Reyes faced Jan Blachowicz for the vacant title at UFC 253, where he was knocked out in the second round. Six months later, he suffered the same fate against current champion Jiri Prochazka.
In his first eight UFC starts, Spann is 6-2 with four finishes, but it’s his setbacks that currently dictate his position in the division, not his triumphs, as the Fortis MMA man has suffered first-round stoppage losses in his first two attempts to really move up the standings. He returned to the win column with a first-round win over Ion Cutelaba, showing greater poise in the chaos, and is looking to maintain that when he takes on Reyes this weekend.
A win isn’t going to get either man in the hunt for the immediate title, but it will bring the winner closer, and a definite victory for either side will clear up some of the questions that still remain. be asked about each of them.
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