Source: MMA Mania
It was announced today that due to his pesky thumb injury which requires necessary rehab, Rashad Evans was forced to pull out of a title-shot with Jon Jones and thus, Lyoto Machida has stepped in as the new UFC Light Heavyweight champion contender at UFC 140. And with the announcement came the early lines drawn for Jones vs. Machida with oddsmakers placing Jones as a *reasonable (-375) favorite to Machida as a (+275) long shot. I say reasonable because Jones went as high as a (-700) favorite in his recent fight against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Are the odds pretty good here from a betting stand point? They are if you consider Machida’s last win was against Randy Couture back in April at UFC 129 with a kick that sealed his retirement. But before that he lost to the two opponents Jones beat to earn and retain the UFC Light Heavyweight title (Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Granted that crane like Karate Kid style kick Machida landed on Couture was an epic moment in UFC history (and apparently we can thank Steven Seagal for it) but considering that Randy was a 47 year old fighter planning for his own retirement, it’s not really enough to make us open our wallets and lay down the dog money for Machida on this fight with Jones.
If you do plan on betting Jon Jones, you should do it now, as the odds gap is bound to widen, at least nearing a (-500) in Jones’ favor.