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I mean, Reyes was like 12-0, 14-0 or whatever once he faced Jon Jones. Besides Ryan Badder, Daniel Cormier, Alex Gustaffson (maybe Gus had lost once iirc by Phil Davis), Reyes was the other undefeated up and comer JJ faced. He finished most of his fights in round one KO, barring a few that went to decision and he was dominant in those. Not only that, but the level of the opponents Reyes had faced in comparison to Tom Aspinall was clearly higher. Until getting into the UFC, Tom had faced 4 guys who were debuting and then went on to have more losses than wins... One of his wins, when I searched the opponent, there was note on tapology questioning whether that was a pro fighter or someone paid to make another fighter shine in a moment, while the one Tom had defeated was allegedly not even a pro fighter...
He lost once to Austin, unlike Reyes who had never lost until JJ. And even the opponents he faced in HW weren't really as high level as the LHW competition Reyes got until fighting JJ. Arlovski was KO'd by Ngannou, Derrick Lewis, had been KO'd more than 5 times in brutal fashion and, at 43 yo, kinda forced Tom to shoot the takedown. Volkov and Gane aren't that good either. Good strikers, but their fight looked like an amateur fight... Both looked slow on the feet and clumsy in the ground. Which is worrying because Cyril Gane at least, was way more destructive with his striking .
Tom's best win was Sergei Pavlovich, true, that was a legit name that is likely a bigger name than any opponent Reyes had defeated. Derrick Lewis though, good fighter, yeah, but he isn't as dynamic and as skilled as LHWs. Reyes on the other side, was fighting mainly opponents coming off good win streaks, younger than Aspinall's ones, most whom were coming off losing streaks and some, initially, who legit were questioned to be jobbers.
JJ vs Reyes was massive... The media had JJ vs Aspinall which is massive but that perception is shaped by the media A LOT. Back then, ppl weren't exposed to promotion of a fighter since it was way more mild. In thesis though, Reyes had that big speed and Athleticism Tom has (Reyes had apparently better defense though), and a high level takedown defense + BJJ... Lack of fighting time for JJ to analyse as well, plus, JJ's picograms vs Gus 2 were said to be reported as far as the Anthony Smith fight went... Vs Thiago Santos and then mainly, vs Reyes, he was basically clean.
Nowadays though, microdosing like JJ's ones vs Gus, these pico level that offer an advantage but all in all, later on recognized for its benefits in mental sharpness and an unfair assessment of the picogram give JJ a big anabolic advantage when it was more about mentality, saying focused on training, avoiding mental fog...
That's what, if JJ fights Tom, which he will, he sure as hell won't be as clean as vs Reyes. Something like vs Gustafsson 2 more or less. In which case, I honestly think Aspinall won't give JJ more problems than Reyes did
He lost once to Austin, unlike Reyes who had never lost until JJ. And even the opponents he faced in HW weren't really as high level as the LHW competition Reyes got until fighting JJ. Arlovski was KO'd by Ngannou, Derrick Lewis, had been KO'd more than 5 times in brutal fashion and, at 43 yo, kinda forced Tom to shoot the takedown. Volkov and Gane aren't that good either. Good strikers, but their fight looked like an amateur fight... Both looked slow on the feet and clumsy in the ground. Which is worrying because Cyril Gane at least, was way more destructive with his striking .
Tom's best win was Sergei Pavlovich, true, that was a legit name that is likely a bigger name than any opponent Reyes had defeated. Derrick Lewis though, good fighter, yeah, but he isn't as dynamic and as skilled as LHWs. Reyes on the other side, was fighting mainly opponents coming off good win streaks, younger than Aspinall's ones, most whom were coming off losing streaks and some, initially, who legit were questioned to be jobbers.
JJ vs Reyes was massive... The media had JJ vs Aspinall which is massive but that perception is shaped by the media A LOT. Back then, ppl weren't exposed to promotion of a fighter since it was way more mild. In thesis though, Reyes had that big speed and Athleticism Tom has (Reyes had apparently better defense though), and a high level takedown defense + BJJ... Lack of fighting time for JJ to analyse as well, plus, JJ's picograms vs Gus 2 were said to be reported as far as the Anthony Smith fight went... Vs Thiago Santos and then mainly, vs Reyes, he was basically clean.
Nowadays though, microdosing like JJ's ones vs Gus, these pico level that offer an advantage but all in all, later on recognized for its benefits in mental sharpness and an unfair assessment of the picogram give JJ a big anabolic advantage when it was more about mentality, saying focused on training, avoiding mental fog...
That's what, if JJ fights Tom, which he will, he sure as hell won't be as clean as vs Reyes. Something like vs Gustafsson 2 more or less. In which case, I honestly think Aspinall won't give JJ more problems than Reyes did
