He was knocked out twice and later on there were huge health problems. I’m lucky to be alive, admits UFC star Dominick Reyes

Not too long ago, Dominick Reyes was one of the absolute top light heavyweights in the UFC. But now he has four straight losses, three of them by KO/TKO. The American fighter’s career is not heading in a good direction. He doesn’t admit the end, but he did admit to recent major problems.

It was February 2020. Dominick Reyes was about to have the biggest fight of his career. He was facing the dominant champion Jon Jones, arguably the best fighter in history, for the light heavyweight title. He lost on points, however many experts and fans saw him win.

It was expected to be the start of his great career. However, the opposite became true. Afterwards, Reyes was no match for Jan Blachowicz, who stopped him in the second round. Then, in May 2021, came the worst moment yet. He was shut down in cold blood by Jiří Procházka.

The iconic elbow from the turn was crucial for the Czech fighter. The win shot him to a title shot, which he took advantage of by beating Glover Teixeira. Reyes had one more fight in the UFC afterwards and lost that one by KO as well. This time he was finished by Ryan Spann. It happened in November 2022.

Since then, the American fighter has not shown up in the cage. He has had two fights scheduled with Carlos Ulberg, but so far it hasn’t happened. The first time Ulberg pulled out of the fight due to injury, the second time Reyes himself, who revealed serious health issues.

Does Reyes still have a future in the UFC?

Dominick Reyes has four losses in his last four fights. Still only 34 years old, he could have a few more years ahead of him. Instead, he’s had to deal with major health issues recently, which he talked about in an interview with James Lynch for the MiddleEasy channel.

“Ulberg pulled out of the fight because of an injury, but he didn’t reveal what it was. I then ended up with blood clots a week later for a change. I had a deep vein thrombosis, so I’ll be out for a while. I’m lucky to be alive,” expressed the UFC star.

He was also at risk of a pulmonary embolism, but luckily the problems were detected in time. His leg was hurting and he thought he had pulled a calf muscle. So he had it massaged, which was almost a tragic decision, as that’s exactly how the clot formed, which he says could have cost him his life on the massage table.

“It’s a difficult situation. I’m out of the game for at least three months because of blood thinners. But I am definitely not thinking of retiring. I’m not ready for that,” Reyes said.

Source: BJPenn.com, UFC, Tapology