Dominick Reyes walked out of UFC 327 with a split-decision victory over Johnny Walker and a clear explanation for why he fought more cautiously than fans might expect.
Reyes edged Walker in a light heavyweight bout on the main card at Kaseya Center in Miami, improving to 16-5 in MMA and 10-5 in the UFC, while Walker dropped to 22-10 and 8-7 in the promotion.
Reyes pointed to Walker’s knockout power and his own recent health concerns as key reasons for his measured performance. "He's super dangerous, so if I go crazy, I'm going to run into something," Reyes said.
Reyes revealed he suffered a concussion from a prior knockout loss to Carlos Ulberg less than six months before facing Walker. "I did get a concussion less than six months ago. I probably shouldn't have taken the fight, but I did. I'm here. I fought a very clean, technical fight. I did my thing, and I feel like I dominated all three rounds. He didn't hit me. He didn't enter. He didn't try to hit me."
Addressing expectations around his style, he added, "… Being Dominick Reyes, people expect me to come out and go all crazy and go for the knockout or get knocked out. I have a son. I need to come home with two checks more than anything. Getting two checks means more than entertaining."
The result marked the first time in more than seven years that Reyes went the distance for a win, and his first bout beyond the second round since his title loss to Jon Jones in 2020.
