Exclusive: UFC 218’s Dominick Reyes Talks About His Prospect Status After Big Submission Win
After two first round finishes, 27-year old light heavyweight Dominick Reyes could be looking at a UFC top-15 ranking next week.
Reyes overcame some early adversity at UFC 218 to finish off Jeremy Kimball in Detroit with a rear-naked choke. The former NFL hopeful moved to 8-0 in just under three years of MMA action.
You can see an excerpt from the fight in our Fightful live coverage below.
Round One: The round begins with Reyes attempting a front kick against Kimball, Kimball charges at Reyes while landing a punching combination. Kimball scores a takedown on Reyes and Reyes gets back up, Kimball holds Reyes against the cage wall while landing a few strikes. Reyes scores a takedown on Kimball and he gets side control, Kimball traps Reyes in his full guard while eating a few strikes. Reyes transitions to back control on Kimball after briefly posturing up, Reyes attacks Kimball with a bunch of elbow strikes. Reyes locks in the rear naked choke and a tap out follows.
Official Result: Dominick Reyes def. Jeremy Kimball by submission via rear naked choke (3:39, R1)
After the bout, Reyes headed backstage where he spoke to Fightful.com's James Lynch about his win and his status in the 205 pound division.
"I don't really think about it like that. I have to take care of business each fight, I have to take the right fights. I'm still growing, I'm not asking for a title shot or anything like that, but I want to take the right fights at the right time. I want to get through the year, my birthday, New Year, Christmas," said Reyes, before revealing he'd like to fight in April.
In the full interview above, Reyes talks about his hand wraps, how he'll celebrate, how he thought the fight played out, and working under Joe Stevenson.
See our full UFC 218 results and live coverage at this link, and the Fightful.com post-show Podcast at this link.
