Just days after the dust settled at UFC 165, Las Vegas oddsmakers are already preparing to run it back. UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones opened as a heavy -450 favorite ahead of a potential rematch against Alexander Gustafsson (+325).
Bovada kicked off the betting lines on Tuesday.
On the strength of a peerless UFC run, Jones (19-1) entered the cage at UFC 165 sporting Gatorade and Nike on his fight banner, and listed as an enormous -900 favorite. Yet Gustafsson (15-2), the lanky training partner of NCAA champion Phil Davis, didn’t fight like an underdog.
The Swede engaged in a grueling war of attrition with the champion, before losing steam in the latter rounds to drop a narrow unanimous decision.
“I had [Jones] winning the fight. Like, no doubt about it. No controversy whatsoever,” UFC President Dana White said at a media event on Monday.
“[The rematch] does and doesn’t (make sense), in the fact they’re both young guys. Jones won the fight. The judges made the right decision. It was a great fight, it was a close fight, it was a war, but the champion won. So maybe Glover (Teixeira) fights next. We don’t know, but I’m getting together with Lorenzo (Fertitta) on Wednesday, and we’re going to talk about it, see what we want to do.”