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UFC 182: Jones vs. Cormier
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Published: 1/3/2015  at  3:58:00 AM
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UFC 182: Jones vs. Cormier

Saturday, Jan. 3 – 11:30 p.m. ET
Las Vegas, NV

Jon Jones (20-1) vs. Daniel Cormier (15-0)

Light heavyweight title fight
Line: Jones -170, Cormier +140

The light heavyweight belt will be on the line Saturday night as Jon Jones takes on Daniel Cormier in the main event at UFC 182 in Las Vegas.

Every so often in the UFC, there is a fight that gets taken to the next level because of trash talk away from the mat, and this is one of those fights. During a press conference promoting UFC 182, these two came to blows during the photo opportunities. Jones is still one of the most dominating fighters in the UFC history, but he has been tested in the past two fights like he has never been tested before. Against Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira, Jones was not able to unleash the devastating knockout he usually does, but he showed that he can win a fight in many different ways. One thing for sure, is that his opponent Saturday, Daniel Cormier, will be ready to go. The 35-year-old from California is undefeated in his fighting career, and he is coming off an impressive submission victory against Dan Henderson. Cormier has made it his mission to take the belt away from Jones ever since moving down a weight class, and on Saturday, he gets his chance. However, in the end, look for JONES to be as good as he has ever been, and to get a dominating victory.

"Bones" Jones has 20 wins in his career, with eight of them coming by knockout. He also has six wins by both submission and decision. His biggest advantage in the octagon is always his reach, and that will be the key in this fight. He stands five inches taller than Cormier, and he will have to use that length against a wrestler with the skill of Cormier. At 27 years old, Jones is just now entering the prime of his career, which is a scary thought for the rest of the class. Besides the length, the tale of the tape is very close between these two in landing significant strikes (4.37 for Jones and 4.17 for Cormier) and grappling (2.37 takedowns for Jones and 2.17 for Cormier). For Jones to be victorious, he just has to stick to his normal fighting routine, and be ready to go from the beginning.

"DC" Cormier has 15 wins in his career, with eight wins by knockouts. He also has five wins by decision and two by submission. He was a former All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State, and if he is able to take this fight to the ground, he will be in great shape to get the victory. Jones does an outstanding job of defending against the takedown (96% takedown defense), and that is because his opponents can’t get the proper grip on him. Cormier will be as good of a wrestler that Jones has ever faced, meaning Jones is going to have to protect against the takedown. Cormier can’t let his emotions allow him to not fight smart. If he is able to get Jones to the championship rounds, he will be in great shape to get the win.


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