Wilson Reis lost his bid for the UFC Flyweight Title at UFC On Fox 24 as he was submitted in the third round by champion Demetrious Johnson.
The fighter believes the elbow strikes that landed on him earlier in the fight is where things started going downhill for him.
“That’s where I come from,” Reis said after the fight. “I come from Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and that hurts more than the knockout for me. It’s just – props to him. At the end of the day, I made a mistake, and he capitalized on it. I just have to move forward. Obviously, go back to the drawing board, watch my mistakes. But he did a good job right before the armbar. The armbar wasn’t a surprise. It was very good. He was real fast doing it. But, before, he really hurt me a little bit on the elbows. That’s why I lost control of the fight.”
Although Reis has suffered defeats before, it was the first time he has been submitted as a professional MMA fighter.
Even though the loss was a crushing one for him, the Brazilian star is getting back into the gym as soon as he can.
“I’ve just got to take a couple of days off, get back to my coaches and get better for the next fight. But I’m just blessed to be in this position. The walkout to the main event, (it) was the most special moment of my life so far. It was an amazing night. Unfortunately I came out with the loss, but it is what it is. I’ll come back stronger the next fight," says Reis.
Reis may have come up short this past Saturday Night, but he has held gold before as he is a former Elite XC Bantamweight Champion.
