For pure, visceral, back-and-forth action, that Fight of the Night headliner was as real as it gets, with both having their moments before Prochazka ended matters at 4:29 of the second round. And while it was a crushing loss for Reyes, and his third in a row, it’s not like he’s erased it from his memory bank. In fact, it was the kind of fight he wanted.
“The crazy thing about it, which is insane to me, is that at that time, I wanted that fight,” Reyes laughs. “I wanted a Fight of the Night, I wanted to bleed. I went into that fight wanting that kind of fight, which is insane to think about now. Why? I don’t know why I wanted it, but I got exactly what I wanted.”
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And when he watches it these days?
“That took a lot of guts. I watched the fight and I’m like, ‘Man, I’m a serious motherf**ker.’ You literally have to kill me to get me out of there. He punches really hard and that wasn’t enough. It was stunning me a little bit but not like where I was all hurt. My face is getting messed up, but I’m still here, and I can still win at any time. I fought all the way to the end. And I went down literally throwing a punch. It was crazy.”
It was, but after the dust settled and he was able to put it in his rearview mirror, he realized he still wanted to fight and chase after the light heavyweight championship many believed he deserved to win before losing a decision to Jon Jones in February of 2020. When Reyes returned to fight for the title Jones vacated seven months later, his head didn’t seem in it as he was stopped by Jan Blachowicz, and then came the Prochazka fight. So from being thisclose to being champion to a fighter with a three-fight losing streak, Reyes needed a change of scenery for his return.
