Five years on, and the debate about the Jon Jones vs Dominick Reyes fight still rages on.
At UFC 247 in 2020, Jon Jones defended his UFC Light Heavyweight title against top contender Dominick Reyes in a five-round bout in the main event.
Despite the majority of fans and pundits alike scoring it a win for Reyes, the judges shockingly gave Jones the unanimous decision victory.
Even Dana White scored it a 3-2 win for Reyes, admitting that many had used the term “robbery” to describe the fight, which one judge even scored 4-1 in favor of Jones.
Reyes out-striked Jones throughout the fight, with many people shocked at how all three judges saw a seemingly different fight from the rest of the fans.
Five years on, and the debate has yet to be settled, so we’ve gone back and rescored the fight to see who really should have walked out of UFC 247 as the UFC Light Heavyweight champion.
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Rescoring Jon Jones vs Dominick Reyes
Round 1
The first round kicked off with Jones trying to keep the distance, while Reyes came inside to attack the world champion with punches and leg kicks.
Jones got more offensive as the round wore on, which opened him up to being knocked down with a left hand from Reyes that excited the crowd, although Bones quickly got to his feet.
The rest of the round saw Reyes jabbing and moving away from Jones, outside of a flurry of hits with around 90 seconds remaining, which Jones weathered well.
While Reyes was the most offensive of the two, Jones defended very well and didn’t let much through, aside from the brief knockdown, which didn’t do much to change the flow of the fight or the scoring of this round.
- Round 1: Jones 9-10 Reyes
Round 2
Jones was more offensive from the start of the round, but found himself more open again to Reyes’ attacks.
Early on, the challenger saw an opening and unleashed a flurry of attacks, which Jones expertly defended by ultimately running away.
Jones definitely picked up after that, landing some strong, clean jabs on Reyes and using his immense reach to keep him at bay.
Reyes hit Jones 33 times in that round compared to 22 the other way around, although Bones hit 59% of his attacks compared to 48% of Reyes.
Neither one really dominated the fight, so Reyes’ superior striking stats edge him as the winner over Jones in Round 2.
- Round 2: Jones 9-10 Reyes
Round 3
Kicking was the theme at the start of the round, as Reyes landed some tough shots before Jones’ head kick got him one of the biggest hits of the night.
Jones kept the pressure on but was once again countered by Reyes, who kept the fight to the unbeaten champion and nullified the bulk of his offense.
Halfway through the round, Jones finally went for a takedown, which was expertly blocked by Reyes, keeping the fight upright as he peppered him with even more shots, slowly chipping away at the champion.
Reyes once again outpunched Jones, taking a three-round lead ahead of Jones as he blocked yet another takedown attempt as the buzzer sounded for the end of the round.
- Round 3: Jones 9-10 Reyes
Round 4
The fourth round began with some fantastic action, as Reyes resisted even more takedown attempts as he refused to give up any ground to the UFC Light Heavyweight champion.
However, that tired Reyes out and allowed Jones to hit him with some clean shots and put some more pressure on him, pushing him up against the cage in another bid for control.
Jones looked the much fresher fighter at the end of the round, as he stalked Reyes and wore him down with constant punches and calf kicks to take home his first round of the fight.
It looked like this was Jones’ plan all along, to wear down the former football player before going in for the kill in the final round.
He out-punched Reyes with significant strikes for the time and thoroughly earned his victory.
Round 4: Jones 10-9 Reyes
Round 5
The final round of the fight saw Jones once again have a takedown attempt blocked as the exhausted Reyes managed to stay on his feet.
Jones went into overdrive, chasing him around the octagon with a host of kicks to wear down Reyes and try to take him down to the canvas.
Reyes could do little but try and avoid getting hit, with every ounce of his energy going into defending Jones’s attacks in this fifth round.
Jones looked as fresh as the first round and could have gone five more rounds if he needed to, although Reyes managed to last until the final buzzer.
Reyes did very little but survive in that round, although Jones failed to use his dominance to do any actual damage to the challenger.
- Round 5: Jones 10-9 Reyes
Rescored fight: Jon Jones 47-48 Dominick Reyes
It was a tale of two halves in this fight. Reyes was the better man in the first three rounds, but his gas tank soon went empty, and Jones took over in this fight.
However, he failed to take advantage of his superior stamina and was seemingly happy to stand back and let him wear himself out, rather than go in for the kill and confirm the victory.
In our rescore of the fight, Reyes clearly walked out as the winner. He landed the only knockdown, albeit a rather inconsequential one, and was on top for the majority of the fight.
If we’re commending Jones’ defense in the first three rounds, then Reyes surviving against one of the all-time greats is equally commendable.
Reyes should have been awarded the UFC Light Heavyweight championship by the judges in what remains to be one of the most controversial decisions in UFC history.