UFC light heavyweight standout Dominick Reyes is in the clear after suffering a near-fatal health scare earlier this year.
Reyes was scheduled to return to the Octagon at UFC 297 in January, but his opponent, Carlos Ulberg, withdrew from the bout due to injury. A week later, Reyes faced his own health scare which proved almost fatal. ‘The Devastator’ was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis. According to The Mayo Clinic, the condition “occurs when a blood clot forms in one or more of the deep veins in the body, usually in the legs.”
The condition can prove deadly if the clot breaks loose and travels to other parts of the body, such as the lungs, creating a pulmonary embolism.
“So yeah, I’m out for a minute. I’m lucky to be alive right now, that’s always nice,” the 34-year-old told James Lynch in January. We caught it early, right, so it didn’t become a pulmonary embolism, and thank God for that. It’s kind of crazy because I got a massage. My leg was hurting, I thought I pulled a muscle in my calf, so I got a massage, and that’s the worst thing you could ever do. I’m lucky I didn’t die on that massage table right there.”
Dominick Reyes "lucky to be alive" after blood clot scare and spoke about withdrawing from the Carlos Ulberg fight
Full interview via @MiddleEasy here 👇https://t.co/WTdOOiujCU pic.twitter.com/jVNdabSlvE
— James Lynch (@LynchOnSports) February 2, 2024
Fortunately, Reyes caught the condition early and got the proper treatment. Offering an update on Instagram this week, the two-time light heavyweight title challenger revealed that he received a clean health bill.
“Hey everyone, I just got out of my appointment at Victor Valley Imaging and I got a clean bill of health,” Reyes said. “No evidence of deep vein thrombosis anymore. I’m pretty excited. I just have to finish off these next few days of blood thinners and I’m good to go, 100%. Thank you, everybody, for the kind words, the love, and reaching out. Time to get back at it, baby. I’m ready to go.”
Dominick Reyes Has Fought the Best of the Best at 205
Winning his first 12 career fights, Reyes has struggled to find the win column in recent years, losing four straight. Though to be fair, his losses came against some of the toughest guys in 205 history, including three former light heavyweight champions — Jon Jones, Jan Blachowicz, and Jiri Prochazka.
12-4 overall, Reyes holds victories over Jared Cannonier, Ovince St. Preux, Volkan Oezdemir, and ex-champ Chris Weidman and still sits as the No. 14 ranked fighter in the division.
Check out some of Dominick Reyes’ top finishes in the UFC below:
