This past Saturday in the featured prelim of UFC 310, we saw a battle between two former light heavyweight title challengers. Dominick Reyes (14-4) was looking to win his second straight fight as he took on Anthony “Lionheart” Smith (37-21).
Smith was dealing with a lot heading into the matchup having just lost his best friend and coach a few weeks prior to the fight. Smith admitted before the fight that he really didn’t care about winning, he just wanted to destroy something. Meanwhile, Dominick Reyes was calm and focused on winning his second straight fight.
When the fight started, both men were having success on the feet. However, Reyes felt like he was landing the bigger shots and his shots just landed cleaner. He seemed like he had Smith hurt a couple of times in the first round. In the second round, Smith tried hard for a takedown, but he left himself exposed.
Reyes ended up hurting him with elbows during that exchange and Reyes spent the majority of the round on top. Near the end of the second round, the referee stopped the fight as Smith wasn’t doing enough to defend himself giving Reyes the TKO win at UFC 310.
What’s next after UFC 310?
2024 has been a big year for Dominick Reyes as he’s rebuilt himself after an extremely challenging stretch. After he nearly defeated Jon Jones in 2020, Reyes suffered three straight brutal knockout losses and honestly, it felt like his career was over. However, after back-to-back stoppage victories, he finds himself knocking on the door of the top ten.
So, what should be next for Reyes? I think what’s next depends on what happens at UFC 311 next month. On the card there is a light heavyweight matchup between Johnny Walker and Bogdan Guskov. Walker is ranked one spot ahead of Reyes at 10th and Guskov is currently ranked 13th.
Whoever wins will be right next to Reyes in the rankings also coming off a win. I think it makes perfect sense to pair Reyes with the winner then whoever would win that matchup would be poised for a top ten opponent.