Dominick Reyes

Reyes was born in Hesperia, California, on December 26, 1989, and is of Mexican American descent.[2] Reyes was an athlete from a young age: he wrestled and played American football, aspiring to play in the NFL. Reyes grew up in a poor family; his parents encouraged him to pursue sports in order to avoid getting involved with gangs.[7] After graduating from Hesperia High School, he moved to New York to attend Stony Brook University, where he earned his B.S. in Information Systems.[8]

Reyes was the starting safety for the Stony Brook Seawolves from 2009 to 2012, eventually becoming captain. He twice made the All-Conference team, including being named First Team All-Big South in 2012. He intercepted a pass in the end zone with 54 seconds remaining in the first round of the 2011 FCS Playoffs to give Stony Brook a 31–28 win over in-state rivals Albany.[9] Reyes graduated from Stony Brook as the program's all-time leader in solo tackles (158), recording 259 tackles in total.[10] While he received attention from NFL teams, his speed was deemed 'average' and he ultimately went undrafted in the 2013 NFL Draft.[10][11]

Although Reyes attended tryouts for the Canadian Football League afterwards, he had no desire to play for a league that was not top-level.[12] Depressed about the apparent end to his NFL dreams, Reyes returned home to California and worked in construction.[12] He would go on to work manual labor for his father's cabinetry business.[13] He trained for MMA at Combat Cage Academy, his brother Alexander's gym, initially to stay in shape and vent frustration.[12][14] Reyes started competing in amateur MMA fights shortly after.[14][15]

In 2017, Reyes accepted a job as an IT Technical Support Specialist at Oak Hills High School in Oak Hills, California.[12] He left the job after two years to focus on UFC full-time. ESPN's Hallie Grossman described his life during this time as "pulling Clark Kent-ish double duty: by day, he was the technology nerd who made sure the campus internet ran smoothly and installed new computers in classrooms. By night, he was the fighter trying to carve a place for himself in MMA, in King of the Cage and Legacy Fighting Alliance and eventually, finally, the UFC."[13]

If I train hard and do what I have to do in order to prepare myself for an upcoming fight, I should be in position to win. With football, you can do everything right and because of the variety of factors that’s involved in a game; the result may not go in your favor. With MMA, I feel I have a greater control of my destiny.[15]

— Dominick Reyes

Reyes was nicknamed "The Devastator" because of his calamitous kicks.[15] He is a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Dodgers and he enjoys snow boarding, wake boarding, mountain bike riding, dirt bike riding and watching documentary shows on TV.[14] Moreover, Reyes has an older brother, Alex Reyes, who competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.[46]

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Performance of the Night (Two times) vs. Joachim Christensen and Chris Weidman[24][37]

[47]

• List of current UFC fighters
• List of male mixed martial artists

• Dominick Reyes at UFC
• Professional MMA record for Dominick Reyes from Sherdog