Dominick Reyes believes Jon Jones vacated his UFC light-heavyweight title and moved up to heavyweight because he "can't keep up" with the top contenders.
Jones, 33, relinquished his UFC belt and announced his move to the heavyweight division in a series of tweets on Monday.
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He leaves behind an incredible legacy at light-heavyweight, having recorded eight consecutive title defences - a UFC record.
His last victory at 205 came against Reyes who has reacted to his former foe's decision and 'The Devastator' has pulled no punches in his assessment.
"He's moving to heavyweight because those guys are slow," Reyes told Ariel Helwani. "You do realise that, right?
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"He can't keep up with us anymore. After what me and Thiago [Santos] did to him, he's like, 'Man, I need to go up. These guys are getting too fast, they're getting too athletic, they're getting too good.' The heavyweights are still slow.
"I think his ego won't let him admit that I'm the reason [he moved up]. I know he doesn't want to rematch me.
"He gave up the belt. You don't give up something you're proud of... You earned that sh*t. Why would you just give it up unless you felt like you didn't earn it?"
Reyes won't be rematching Jones but he will fight for the UFC title in his next bout.
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He's set to face Poland's Jan Blachowicz for the vacant UFC light-heavyweight championship at UFC 253 on September 26.
"The whole goal is to get the belt anyway," Reyes added. "It sucks that I can't beat Jon for it at this time. But I'll catch him. I'll catch him later.
"Jon doesn't counterstrike, has no power, and he's not technical. He's just tricky.
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"At this point, I don't really give a sh*t about Jon Jones. He's irrelevant to my life right now... We'll see what the future holds, my friends."
Will Reyes become UFC champion? Let us know what you think.
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/InstagramTopics: Jon Jones, UFC News, Fight News, Dominick Reyes, UFC
