Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz will compete for the newly vacant UFC light-heavyweight title on Sept. 26 at UFC 253, the organization announced.
This fight should usher in a new era in the 205-pound division after longtime champion and pound-for-pound king Jon Jones announced earlier in the week he was vacating the title with his sights set on the heavyweight division.
Reyes (12-1) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Jones back at UFC 247 in February, however many fans and pundits believe Reyes should’ve gotten his hand raised. Two judges scored the fight 48-47 Jones and one had it 49-46. Out of 21 media members who scored the fight on MMA Decisions, 14 had Reyes winning 48-47 and seven had Jones taking it 48-47.
Prior to his first career loss, the 30-year-old Reyes had picked up impressive wins over the likes of Jared Cannonier, Ovince Saint Preux, Volkan Oezdemir and former middleweight champion Chris Weidman.
Meanwhile, Blachowicz (26-8) has won seven of his past eight fights, picking up five post-fight performance bonuses along the way. The 37-year-old knocked out Corey Anderson in February in his most recent bout.
A middleweight championship fight between Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa is expected to headline the event, a venue for which has yet to be announced.
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