The hyped light heavyweight title bout between defending champion Jon Jones and challenger Daniel Cormier is here, nearly four months after its initially scheduled date. Saturday’s fight sees the champ favored at (-162), with Cormier coming back at (+137). The over/under on the five round fight is set at 4.5 rounds, with both the over and the under paying at (-110).
The lines has been inching closer and closer, as money seems to be coming in on Cormier at a pretty steady rate. It is already well known that this match was scheduled for last September but had to be postponed until now, and after the hype train for the first match had gone overboard, the rescheduled fight had a much more tame build-up based on the heated history between the two men. But Cormier has seemed to handle the pressure well and he has gained the confidence of the betting public, as this line opened with Cormier a much bigger underdog.
Jones seems to be quietly seething with anger over this fight. He didn’t want to take it in the first place, as the original plan saw him fighting Alexander Gustafsson. When Gustafsson was hurt, he had little choice but to accept Cormier’s challenge. But Jones is not weak of mind, and he seems to have resented not being able to call all the shots his own way. The fact that the skirmish with Cormier cost him a Nike sponsorship hits him in the wallet, and Jones certainly doesn’t like that either.
Jones, so far in his UFC career, has always been calculating and professional, but he has never come into a fight angry before. Considering Cormier’s toughness and that the over/under is 4.5 rounds, people are expecting these guys to mix it up and for the fight to go long. But what if Jones is able to channel his burning hatred and he wipes out Cormier in the early going? You can bet that Jones has played that scenario out in his head repeatedly. For him it is just about implementing his will and making that vision a reality in the octagon to protect his belt.
