Mike Winkeljohn knows Jon Jones beat Dominick Reyes but isn’t opposed to them running things back.
When the fight went to the scorecards, fighters, fans, and media were torn on who had won but Jones’ corner was confident. They had thought they won rounds 2, 4 and 5 with round 3 being a swing round.
“We lost the first round,” Winkeljohn said in an interview with MMA Fighting on Monday. “The second round I thought we edged. The third round, we might not have got that round. I honestly had [rounds] 2, 4 and 5. I think 2 and 3 were really close.
“You never know with judges. I was telling Jon to keep up the pressure, the pressure’s working. Keep working the body, keep working those legs. Keep doing what you’re doing and try to break this kid. Of course, I wanted the takedown, too, but Dominick was just an incredible athlete. He’s so good at what he does.
“I just wanted Jon to keep gassing the kid out because he’s known for his endurance and I believe it worked out that way. Jon just kept going, dug down deep and it was an awesome fight.”
Winkeljohn was impressed by Reyes’ performance as was the team. But, they know they won. So even if they rematch, Winkeljohn is confident Jones would do better and get his hand raised again.
He points to the Gustafsson and Cormier rematches as evidence of how much better “Bones” does in rematches.
“There’s no doubt about that,” Winkeljohn answered when asked if he expected Jones to face Reyes again in the future. “Jon likes rematches. Jon is a student of the game. We would all put our heads together, but at the end of the day, Jon sits down and says, ‘This wasn’t good, this is what he can do,’ and he’ll be even more motivated. Just like [Alexander] Gustafsson where you saw his performance was totally different.
“It’s not that he took anybody light, but he’s just so smart at making those small adjustments that are needed. Us as a team, we’ll try to help out as well.”
