Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier just plain don’t like one another. From their press conference brawl to their no-holds barred trash talking while they thought they were off air, there seems to be authentic animosity between these two.
All the talk will end soon enough as the two prepare to settle their business in the Octagon on UFC 182 for Jones’ UFC Light Heavyweight Championship on Jan. 3 in Las Vegas. Read on for our complete breakdown of this championship fight below.
Another championship will be on the line come the New Year: the college football championship. Check out our previews for the two national semifinal games, Florida State vs. Oregon and Ohio State vs. Alabama.
With Georges St-Pierre retired and Anderson Silva on a two-fight losing streak, Jon “Bones” Jones is pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world today. Jones will enter the fight against Daniel Cormier – his seventh UFC title defense – sporting a professional record of 20-1. His only blemish was a harsh disqualification way back in 2009.
[sc:UFC240banner ]Apart from that, it has been basically complete dominance from Jones, who can win in any variety of ways. Of his 20 victories, nine have come via knockout or TKO, six via submission and five by decision.
Two of those five decisions have come in his last two title bouts against Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira. The lanky Gustafsson gave Jones the biggest test of his career, but the champ still gutted it out to emerge as the unanimous winner. He was much more dominant against Teixeira, receiving 50-45 scores from all three judges.
What makes Jones so dangerous is simply the all-around nature of his game. He’s a genius striker, a terrific wrestler and a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. His bout with Gustafsson also proved that his chin is more than capable of taking a punch and that he can dig deep and survive a five-round war.
It helps that Jones is an absolute freak physical specimen that gives him an overwhelming size and reach advantage over virtually the entire division. Jones is four inches taller and has a reach almost a full foot longer than Cormier, which will make Jones very difficult to hit in the stand-up.
If the fight does indeed stay upright as Jones’ wrestling ably counters Cormier’s, the champ will have a decided edge and should be able to pick Cormier apart with his diverse striking attack.
Betting on Daniel Cormier
Daniel “DC” Cormier may legitimately be the biggest threat yet to Jon Jones’ belt. The betting odds certainly reflect that as DC is only +150 to win the title. The 35-year old former Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion is undefeated in 15 professional fights, and he’s 4-0 since heading over to the UFC.
Cormier fought in heavyweight for his first two UFC bouts before successfully cutting down to light heavyweight earlier this year. He TKO’d late replacement Patrick Cummins in just under 80 seconds in February before beating former contender Dan Henderson via technical submission.
The crux of Cormier’s case as the biggest challenge to Jones lies in his wrestling, which is simply world class. He was team captain of the 2008 US Olympic wrestling team. It’s this outstanding wrestling base that (in theory)can allow Cormier to control Jones’ movements and dictate the pace and the position of the fight.
Cormier showed off that prodigious wrestling ability by basically ragdolling Henderson, himself a former Olympic wrestler, for two-plus rounds. But it’ll get a lot more complicated if Cormier can’t impose his will on the 6-4 Jones.
Cormier, while much-improved on his feet, is far from an outstanding striker and his physical limitations will make it that much harder for him to close the distance and land cleanly on Jones. Cormier could easily devolve into more or less a one-dimensional fighter against Jones. But that one dimension is still incredibly good, possibly good enough to land DC the title.
Writer’s Prediction
Jones and Cormier wrestle their way through five full rounds, with Jones retaining his title via unanimous decision. Create a betting account now and earn big on the biggest prize fights in MMA.
