If timing is everything in life, consider the case of former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Dominick Reyes. 

Originally scheduled to face off against Carlos Ulberg in January 2024, Reyes was riding a four-fight losing streak at the time, including the final three by devastating knockout, as his job security (and likely his overall career) was precariously hanging in the balance. Ulberg would withdraw from the fight due to injury, as would Reyes when the fight was rescheduled two months later. 

Fast forward another 18 months to this weekend and both Reyes (15-4) and this matchup between top 10-ranked fighters at 205 pounds are in a much different position.

Reyes, 35, is riding a three fight win streak — all by stoppage — and enters as the No. 7 fighter at 205 pounds against the No. 3 Ulberg (12-1), who has won eight straight. Their five-round bout, which headlines UFC Fight Night on Saturday from RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, could ultimately prove to be a No. 1 contender’s bout for the title Reyes was once so close to capturing, depending upon what happens in the division from here. 

“Obviously, I’m in a much better place than I was,” Reyes told CBS Sports on Monday. “I’m very sure of who I am now and very sure of my preparations. Before, I had so many questions that got answered in my last three fights so now I’m super confident and sure. It’s definitely to my benefit, that’s for sure, to fight him now [compared] to fighting him then.

“[There are] full title implications for both of us here. He doesn’t have a real signature win and I’m the guy who will get you a title shot, as we have seen, [if you beat me]. I’m on the winning streak and not just winning but finishing ranked fighters. He’s on an 8-fight winning streak and has been a little bit lackluster his last couple of fights. Regardless of how this plays out, the top three are all interchangeable for title shots. That’s just the way it is.” 

Reyes suddenly finding himself a 2-to-1 betting underdog against Ulberg pales in comparison to the extreme highs and lows he experienced over a wild five years of his career that led up to this point. 

In February 2020, Reyes brought a 12-0 pro record with four finishes in his six Octagon wins into a UFC 247 title shot against Jon Jones. After five eye-opening rounds, 14 of 21 cageside media members scored the fight for Reyes yet all three judges had unanimously for Jones in a highly disputed result.  

“I know I won that fight and [Jones] knows I won that fight,” Reyes said. “It is what it is. It’s the past. I know what happened that night and nobody could ever take that away from me no matter how you twist it. I am still proud of what I did. I know I went out there and put on the best performance of my life that night. My whole life culminated to that moment and I did beyond what I was supposed to do. That’s all you can do.”

Jones’ subsequent vacating of the title opened the door for Reyes to enter as the clear betting favorite against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 253 only to lose their vacant title bout via second-round TKO. A disastrous bounce-back attempt against future champion Jiri Prochazka followed in 2021, with Reyes getting knocked out cold via spinning back elbow. 

After sitting out for 18 months to attempt to reinvent himself by moving his camp to Connecticut under the championship tutelage of Glover Teixeira and Alex Pereira, Reyes’ downward slide hit an official rock bottom when Ryan Spann, who would go on to lose his next three fights, left Reyes unconscious in just 80 seconds. 

A lonely 15 months followed as Reyes contemplated retirement before his first attempt at fighting Ulberg was delayed. Yet, it was the combination of the experience gained through wins and losses (what Reyes calls “the battle education”) that mixed with a spiritual reinvention to provide him with an opportunity to heal. 

Stoppage wins over Dustin Jacoby, former title challenger Anthony Smith and, most recently, against Nikita Krylov in the first round of their April bout at UFC 314, completed this feel-good comeback story. 

“I have matured incredibly as a fighter,” Reyes said. “My approach is completely different. My stress is a lot less. I don’t worry about every little thing like I did when I was a younger fighter. I know that I don’t have to be great at every training session, I have to be great at every fight night. So, that helps with the mind to keep me from going up and down so much. It keeps me at a level base. 

“I’m not back, I’m better. I’m getting better almost every single day and it’s crazy. It’s a trippy thing to see because of how long I have been doing this. I look at myself as a younger fighter and I say, ‘I would have smoked that kid.’ It all happens as it should. I’m exactly where I should be. Mentally, it’s all about gratitude. This isn’t going to last forever. Sooner than later, it’s all going to be over.” 

Reyes admits he spent nearly four years replaying the Jones fight in his mind and wondering the inevitable “what if” about how different his career would’ve been had he just been named champion on that 2020 night in Houston. And it took plenty of soul searching to get to the point where he is now, truly believing that everything in life happens for a reason. 

“Me coming back and getting this title now is a stronger testimony to my faith than getting it then,” Reyes said. “I’m a better person — not just a better fighter but a better human being — than I was at that time. It has all gone exactly how it should. Sometimes [God] puts those hard lessons in front of you that you don’t want to accept. But once you accept them and can get an understanding of what his plan is for you, it makes acting out his plan a lot easier. I can focus on the things I can control and the rest will figure itself out.”

Reyes and his wife Brenda are expecting their first child, a son, in December. And even Reyes’ opponent has noticed a new kind of aura and fighting spirit surrounding the native of Hesperia, California, as he readies for one of the defining bouts of 11-year career. 

“[Reyes] is a man on a mission,” Ulberg told CBS Sports this week. “He’s on a resurgence to find his path again, to make a statement in the division and stake his name on title contention. Come Saturday, we’ll have two guys in there who are on the same type of mission, ready to explode.” 

Reyes (a former college football player at Stony Brook) and Ulberg (an accomplished rugby league player from New Zealand) bring an incredible amount of similarities to the fight. Both are 6-foot-4 with a 77-inch reach and are a mere 11 months apart in age. 

While Reyes did recognize the experience gap between them in terms of elite experience, which he believes will be the difference in the fight, he shared Ulberg’s sentiments regarding a similar fighting spirit which he saw firsthand when the two faced off in August at a press conference in Perth announcing the fight. 

“What I mainly got from it is he is down [to fight] and I love that,” Reyes said. “You need a good dance partner. I can’t dance alone. He’s going to be an amazing opponent. I look into his eyes and look into his soul, he’s not afraid of the fight. And I feel that.”

One thing Reyes also feels is the love and support from the MMA community in regards to his feel-good comeback.

“I have people from all around the world just giving me their best,” Reyes said. “I appreciate all the love that everyone is sending me throughout this camp and this comeback tour. It has been great. It’s cool to be on this side of the fence because I have been on the other side, too, and it’s not that fun.

“At the end of the day, I can be proud of who I am and my son, who is coming in December, my first child, he is going to be proud of who I am and how I carry myself. I’m ready for this fight, I’m very excited for this fight. I’m freaking so dang sharp, it’s insane.”