Does Dominick Reyes prove American Football players can transition to MMA with a few years training?

[Takamine86]

This former American Football college safety didn't get drafted to the NFL so he decided to step into the cage. With a few years of training, Dominick Reyes went undefeated all the way to a title shot against Jon Jon Jones, who many consider the GOAT of MMA. & Dominick Reyes just gave Jon Jones one of the most competitive fights he has ever had, many believing Reyes actually should have got the nod.

How was Reyes able to give Jon Jones more competition than MMA fighters/legends/champions like Shogun, Machida, Rampage, Belfort, DC, Vera, Rashad, and Bader? Did Reyes surpass all of these fighters with only a few years of training?

 

[Mortal Wombat]

Nah.

 

[Platon]

UFC/MMA is a joke

 

[chuckleknuckle]

Jones struggles against taller fighters.

Styles make fights.

 

[meareiguana]

Nah, it's very individual. Having a background in pretty much any sport on a high level helps but that's about it.

 

[Iroh]

He also already had a wrestling background before he went into MMA.

 

[ExitLUPin]

Ask Greg Hardy

pro bowler and second team all pro in the NFL

been training MMA for over 4 years now

looked absolutely horrible and nearly lost to Ben Sosoli who isnt even top 300 in the most shallow division, without an illegal inhaler boost

then got dominated and picked apart by Volkov. He looks generally terrible and stiff in his fights and likely continues to

Reyes form of athleticism translates more to fighting. Theres plenty in the NFL that wouldnt and this doesnt even get into the mental aspects, wear and tear (many elite athletes in the NBA and NFL do MMA training now and have said its among their hardest workouts by far) and grit of being a fighter.

 

[Takamine86]

Jones struggles against taller fighters.

Styles make fights.

Vera and Bonnar were taller fighters and Jon didn't struggle. Gus was also still tall in the rematch. It can't be as simple as just height, MMA is a complex sport.

 

[HardasNAILZ]

Zzzzzzzzzzzz. This boring shit AGAIN.

 

[chuckleknuckle]

Vera and Bonnar were taller fighters and Jon didn't struggle. Gus was also still tall in the rematch. It can't be as simple as just height, MMA is a complex sport.

Vera was 3-4 going into the fight, Bonnar sucks. There's definitely more to it than height, but only if they don't completely suck. All the guys who were technically better than Vera and Bonnar were much smaller. DC is more than 6 inches shorter.

Height against Jones is a big factor for any fighter who doesn't suck.

 

[Takamine86]

Vera was 3-4 going into the fight, Bonnar sucks. There's definitely more to it than height, but only if they don't completely suck. All the guys who were technically better than Vera and Bonnar were much smaller. DC is more than 6 inches shorter.

Height against Jones is a big factor for any fighter who doesn't suck.

lol. Height and don't suck. That's convenient.

 

[chuckleknuckle]

lol. Height and don't suck. That's convenient.

For who?

 

[ConorFacts]

Ask Greg Hardy

pro bowler and second team all pro in the NFL

been training MMA for over 4 years now

looked absolutely horrible and nearly lost to Ben Sosoli who isnt even top 300 in the most shallow division, without an illegal inhaler boost

then got dominated and picked apart by Volkov. He looks generally terrible and stiff in his fights and likely continues to

Reyes form of athleticism translates more to fighting. Theres plenty in the NFL that wouldnt and this doesnt even get into the mental aspects, wear and tear (many elite athletes in the NBA and NFL do MMA training now and have said its among their hardest workouts by far) and grit of being a fighter.

lol come on bro.

Greg Hardy trained for a few years, has Asthma, gassed two fights ago, but now he showed better cardio & went the distance vs a Legit and much bigger HW.

Not even Cro Cop fought a legit HW after a few years.

Guys like Ngannou, Stipe etc. lost vs cans

 

[Dennis Lecker]

This former American Football college safety didn't get drafted to the NFL so he decided to step into the cage. With a few years of training, Dominick Reyes went undefeated all the way to a title shot against Jon Jon Jones, who many consider the GOAT of MMA. & Dominick Reyes just gave Jon Jones one of the most competitive fights he has ever had, many believing Reyes actually should have got the nod.

How was Reyes able to give Jon Jones more competition than MMA fighters/legends/champions like Shogun, Machida, Rampage, Belfort, DC, Vera, Rashad, and Bader? Did Reyes surpass all of these fighters with only a few years of training?

*Correction: "Most" believing Reyes should have gotten the nod.

 

[Johnny_Knuckles]

STFU

 

[Takamine86]

Ask Greg Hardy

pro bowler and second team all pro in the NFL

been training MMA for over 4 years now

looked absolutely horrible and nearly lost to Ben Sosoli who isnt even top 300 in the most shallow division, without an illegal inhaler boost

then got dominated and picked apart by Volkov. He looks generally terrible and stiff in his fights and likely continues to

Reyes form of athleticism translates more to fighting. Theres plenty in the NFL that wouldnt and this doesnt even get into the mental aspects, wear and tear (many elite athletes in the NBA and NFL do MMA training now and have said its among their hardest workouts by far) and grit of being a fighter.

To be fair, Reyes has more years in MMA on Greg Hardy. Greg Hardy only has one true loss and that is the decision against Volkov. The fact that he can even take a fighter like Volkov to a decision with his limited experience was impressive. He is clearly improving with each fight and will only get better. Don't know how much his conditioning will get better as an asthmatic though.

I do agree position wise and just over all, Reyes physique is better for MMA. He is just in better shape in general and he played Safety.

 

[Magooglie]

Baseball is #1!

 

[ConorFacts]

To be fair, Reyes has more years in MMA on Greg Hardy. Greg Hardy only has one true loss and that is the decision against Volkov. The fact that he can even take a fighter like Volkov to a decision with his limited experience was impressive. He is clearly improving with each fight and will only get better. Don't know how much his conditioning will get better as an asthmatic though.

I do agree position wise and just over all, Reyes physique is better for MMA. He is just in better shape in general and he played Safety.

Cage exp. is way more important for a guy like Hardy. He has max 2+ years Cage exp. while others have 5+ years.

Even a guy like Ngannou had a Boxing Background.

Greg Hardy never wanted to be a fighter … he basically jumped out of bed and decided to be a MMA fighter and is doing better then guys who train their whole life in MMA.

 

[Takamine86]

*Correction: "Most" believing Reyes should have gotten the nod.

I don't disagree with that statement, it seems that is what most believe. I hope they do an immediate rematch. Would be interesting if an Undrafted Football player can defeat a GOAT of MMA. But Jon Jones is really good in the rematches. Well, he was against Gus and DC.

 

[MeatWagon06]

Baseball is #1!

Disagree. Olympic Curlers grip strength is 2nd to none. With 3 weeks Muay Thai training they’d be ripping heads off in the plum. And also ankle picking fuckers left and right.