The UFC 182 card scheduled for Jan. 3 is less than a month away, and the main event of Jon Jones versus Daniel Cormier for the light heavyweight title appears to be holding together. The fight has been postponed, after a now-famous brawl between the two ratcheted up the attention for the fight when it was announced. Now after a few months of calm, Jones is favored (-170) at the books, with Cormier paying back at (+150). The over/under is 4.5 rounds, with the over paying (-160) and the under at (+130).
This line has been posted for a while, and it has been creeping closer as the fight approaches. When it opened, Jones was a much wider favorite. Jones is now entering his eighth title defense, and has been every bit the dominant champion he is painted to be. This match was originally with Alexander Gustafsson, who he fought before and is considered to have given Jones his greatest challenge.
Whereas Gustafsson represents a challenge to Jones, Cormier has managed to get under the champion’s skin a bit and that has made it personal with Jones. It will be interesting to see if Jones is able to channel that emotion or if it becomes a weakness. The fact is Jones lost a lucrative shoe deal over the brawl he and Cormier had at a press conference, so Jones was hit in the wallet on top of the negative PR generated from the scuffle.
With his compact build, Cormier will be giving up height and reach to the lankier Jones, but he has the wrestling pedigree to get chest to chest and possibly get Jones to the ground. Cormier has been fast tracking his MMA career since he started late, and he has answered every challenge so far. When he was a heavyweight, he handled the division’s best talent, and the cut to light heavyweight has not proven to be a problem. In 2008, at the China Olympics, he failed to compete because of problems cutting weight.
By the time both men meet, both will have been way from competition for more than six months, and with what is sure to be a rugged bout come January, who knows when the champion who emerges might be ready to go again.
Check out the UFC’s clip of the brawl that went down back in August at a presser for the original fight.
