In the wake of Jon Jones deciding to vacate his title, fans were wondering how soon the UFC would fill that vacant spot. Dana White recently confirmed that this honor will be going to the recently announced fight between Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz.
Jones and White had not been seeing eye to eye over the last several months, mostly due to pay disputes. The then-light heavyweight king wanted to move up to heavyweight, specifically to fight Francis Ngannou, but asked for money to do so. When the UFC said no, Jon would threatened to vacate and retire, a promise he would somewhat keep, officially vacating his belt on Monday evening.
Dana White Confirms Reyes vs Blachowicz For The Title
Shortly after Jon Jones revealed that he was vacating the title, a key light heavyweight matchup was announced for UFC 253. Former title challenger Dominick Reyes was revealed to be fighting Jan Blachowicz at this event. Although it was unclear at first, when speaking to media after the most recent edition of the Contender Series, Dana White confirmed that Jones had in fact given up his belt, and that this bout would be for the vacant 205lb crown.
This is a big fight in the light heavyweight division. The winner of this contest will be the first person not named Daniel Cormier or Jon Jones to hold the title in this division, in nearly a decade. As such, it marks the start of a new era, not just in the division but in the sport generally.
While Dana White has been struggling to agree with Jon Jones, it seems that things are finally moving in the division. It is going to be interesting to see what happens to him in this new weight class. However thinking of someone else as the king at 205lb will definitely take some getting used to.
