Santos Vs. Reyes For Jones’ Light Heavyweight Title?

In his last two fights, Jon Jones had to dig deeper than he ever had to before. The UFC’s Light Heavyweight Champion struggled to take down both Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes, with many believing he lost those fights. Now, one of them is looking to take advantage of a recent controversy by Jones.

Yesterday, “Bones” Jones (26-1, 1NC) was arrested for aggravated DWI, negligent use of a weapon and possession of an open container. Not new to controversy with the law, Jones’ Pandora’s box appears to have opened up again, even under quarantine. Santos, (21-7), his opponent from UFC 239, believes something should be done about this. “Marreta” took to Twitter about a plan for Jones to be stripped of the title and for him and Reyes to fight over it.

“I think UFCs 205 div needs a new champ! ( One thats not forever in trouble!) I think me and Reyes deserve to fight for that belt!”

I think UFCs 205 div needs a new champ! ( One thats not forever in trouble!)
I think me and Reyes deserve to fight for that belt! @danawhite @Mickmaynard2 @ufc @DomReyes @UFCBrasil @Alexdavismma @espnmma

— Thiago Marreta (@TMarretaMMA) March 26, 2020

Santos ended up losing to Jones via split decision, ending a four-fight win streak. A man with 15 wins via knockout, Santos was a troubling matchup for Jones, who did not perform a single takedown in the early rounds. Despite tearing his left ACL, LCL, PCL, MCL, meniscus and Tibia in the first round, Santos became the first fighter to win a judge’s scorecard against Jones.

Reyes (12-1) was another big test for Jones. After winning six fights for the UFC, Reyes was given the opportunity and went toe-to-toe with Jones. The contest between the two was deemed highly controversial, as it appeared that Reyes won a few rounds, but all three judges scored the bout in favor of Jones.

It is unconfirmed what the UFC will do with Jones as of this moment. If they strip him of the belt, it would not be the first time. After violating the UFC’s Athlete Code of Conduct policy from the hit-and-run incident he was involved in Jones was stripped of the belt. After winning the interim title from Ovince Saint Preux, Jones was stripped again for failing a drug test. Jones was then suspended and stripped following his win over Daniel Cormier for the undisputed title after testing positive for turinabol.