Issue 166

April 2018

We catch up with the 205-pound finisher making fast progress in the UFC.

You got your second first-round Octagon finish over Jeremy Kimball at UFC 218. How would you grade your performance?

Overall, it was a good learning experience. I got to be in the cage for a little bit of time and that was good. I got to display some grappling and I came out with the win. It was a great growing experience for me.

Your UFC debut was a bonus-securing, 29-second win. How did your life change after that?

My brother said, ‘You are going back home. It’s time to go back to the real world.’ I said, ‘No. This is my new reality, bro.’ It feels so cool.

I got to visit the UFC Performance Institute recently. That was nice. It was super legit. It’s on the level of a big Division I programs or NFL level stuff.

All of the staff work like a college staff at a big school. Everybody communicates with each other and works together. It’s really, really nice.

You said that your dream was to score a walk-off head-kick KO. You hit two outside the UFC. What’s your aim now?

I have a few. I want to get every type of finish. I see it like a video game: when you are playing a football game and you throw for 500 yards, you get a new medal. “Congratulations you unlocked a new medal!” I feel like I am playing the game of MMA. I get a new head-kick knockout and it’s like you achieved a new head-kick knockout.

What’s next? I see it as video game achievements. It’s just a fun way to approach it.

What powers you to finish fights so quickly?

I’m not there to mess around – I’m here to get the job done, and the job is to finish my opponent. That’s my mentality: finish, finish, finish.

Your time playing safety as captain for Stonybrook University got you a spot at the NFL Combine. What was that experience like?

The NFL Combine was really cool. All NFL teams and scouts are there. It was really high stress. One run can determine everything. I think that prepared me for MMA. One lapse and the fight is over.

With football, it's staying in the moment and it’s the same with fighting. Stay in the moment. Focus up and get it done.

When I played safety, one lapse meant I was giving up a touchdown. It’s the same thing and it translated well for me to come over to MMA. Football was great. I got everything. I could out of it. Fighting so far has been perfect.

When did you decide to stop pursuing a career in football and permanently switch to MMA?

MMA became an option directly after the draft. The draft came and went and I didn’t get called up.

I was frustrated and upset. I still had a lot of athletic prowess left in me, so I started training in MMA literally a month after the draft.

You started training at the gym your brother (Alex Reyes) was training at, right?

Yes. That’s where I learned everything. I recently went over to Joe Stevenson’s gym for more bodies and things like that.

Was it easy to reconnect with your high school wrestling roots when you made the jump into MMA?

Wresting is the number one combat sport background to have before you get into fighting. It teaches toughness mainly. It’s everything.

I wrestled in high school and really enjoyed the experience. It’s like riding a bike. I left and came back bigger, faster and stronger. It was more fun to come back into wrestling after all that.

MMA ups and downs

  • December 2014: Wins pro debut with first-round TKO
  • October 2015: Goes the distance for the only time in his career
  • June 2017: Wins second straight fight by head kick KO
  • June 2017: Wins UFC debut three weeks later
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