UFC Fight Night update: Dominick Reyes texts his way to bonus money after being swerved by Dana White in immediate aftermath of win
In the aftermath of UFC Louisville, many were shocked to see that Dominick Reyes was not one of the four Performance of the Night post-fight bonus winners of the evening. As one-half of the co-main event, Reyes picked up a first-round knockout win over Dustin Jacoby to secure his first victory in nearly five years.
Reyes himself admitted that not receiving the additional paycheck was "disappointing," but said on the June 10 edition of The MMA Hour that he managed to negotiate his way into receiving an unofficial bonus. The former title challenger said:
"I recently talked to Dana [White] and yeah, I got the bonus now. It's really, really awesome. I messaged him, we talked, and he said: 'Yeah man, you absolutely deserve it.' So now I got the bonus."
At one point being a 12-0 contender in the light heavyweight division, Reyes was the final opponent of Jon Jones in the 205-pound division, challenging for the title at UFC 247. He would ultimately be given the first professional loss of his career, though most felt that he should have been given the decision victory.
After losing to Jones, Reyes would proceed to lose by knockout three times over the next two years. Following his most recent defeat to Ryan Spann at UFC 281, 'The Devastator' suffered a blood clot that caused him to sit out for over a year before returning at UFC Louisville.
[Watch] Dominick Reyes knock out Dustin Jacoby at UFC Louisville
In his first fight back from a 19-month layoff, Dominick Reyes was arguably fighting to keep his career alive at UFC Louisville against former GLORY Kickboxing fighter Dustin Jacoby.
After a brief feeling-out process in the first round, Jacoby pressured Reyes against the fence but was hit with a counter left hook that nearly knocked him down. 'The Devastator' immediately recognized his feat and swarmed the 36-year-old, landing a knee that knocked Jacoby down.
Jacoby returned to his feet, but shortly after, referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in to stop the fight just as he fell over again from another big shot from Reyes.
The 34-year-old instantly released his emotions, celebrating in the center of the octagon before jumping onto the cage to embrace the cheering fans.
For Jacoby, the loss was his second straight and fourth in his last five fights. After beginning his second UFC tenure at 7-0-1, 'The Hanyak' has fallen out of the light heavyweight rankings.