When was the last time a main event was this hotly anticipated? Seriously, I’m asking.
Arguably, the answer might be that not since Anderson Silva took the cage against Chris Weidman for the second time have fans been in such a fervor. And before that? Your guess is as good as mine.
The point is that there’s a lot of anticipation, a lot of heat and a lot of athletic intrigue surrounding Jon Jones‘ light heavyweight title defense against Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier, which goes down Saturday at UFC 182.
These two are a combined 35-1 as pro MMA fighters. Jones has defended his title seven consecutive times. Cormier has never lost or even been threatened. Jones is as innovative as he is physically gifted, as enigmatic as he is willful. Cormier is as strong as he is engaging, as finely honed as he is physically, well, jolly-looking.
And Cormier, with his powerful game, could be the man to finally defeat Jones fair and square.
Will he do it? I have a prediction for you. In fact, I have predictions for each of the 11 bouts on this UFC 182 card, which contains several interesting fights in addition to this titanic main event.
Read on for these picks as well as information capsules, analysis, viewing coordinates and jokes. Please enjoy.