Dominick Reyes has got his mojo back ahead of his potential title eliminator vs. Carlos Ulberg.
Reyes (14-4 MMA, 8-4 UFC) takes on Ulberg (12-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) in a 205-pound UFC Fight Night main event on Sept. 27 from RAC Arena in Perth in Western Australia.
Light heavyweight champion Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) will run things back with Alex Pereira (12-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in the UFC 320 headliner on Oct. 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. With Jiri Prochazka facing Khalil Rountree on the same card, Reyes admits he might have to wait for his shot if he gets past Ulberg.
But having trained with Pereira before, Reyes prefers fighting Ankalaev – a matchup he likes for himself.
“I’d much rather fight Ankalaev for sure,” Reyes told Submission Radio. “Honestly, I feel like me and Ankalaev are very similar, but I’m just better. We have a very similar fighting style. I think it’s almost the same, but he’s a little bit more technical than I am in terms of patience, and I’m more willing to jump in the fire.”
Reyes admits he was surprised with Pereira’s approach in his title loss to Ankalaev at UFC 313 in March.
“I think it will be different in the sense that Alex actually had time off, and he’s had time to better prepare,” Reyes said. “He fought, what, four times in a year or something? I think him losing that fight made him have to dig in more. I think it will be a different fight. Alex has worked extremely hard, and he’s very focused.
“Don’t get me wrong: Ankalaev is very good fighter. Alex looked lackluster in the last fight,, which is rare. He didn’t pull the trigger, which is not very common for him. It could have just been Ankalaev’s movement, and his threat of the takedown, kept Alex on his heels.”
