A rematch that light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier (17-1) has been thinking about for more than a year will finally take place in the main event at UFC 200 in Las Vegas on Saturday, as he battles interim champ Jon “Bones” Jones (22-1) to unify the two title belts.
Cormier was on the wrong end of a unanimous decision in favor of Jones the last time they met at UFC 182 in January 2015. This time, he’s listed as a +230 underdog (bet $100 to win $230) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.
Jones is a -300 favorite (bet $300 to win $100). He was originally slated to meet Cormier at UFC 197 on April 23, but a foot injury for the latter prevented that from happening.
Instead, Jones faced Ovince Saint Preux in his return from a 15-month absence and earned a UD victory—his third in a row since scoring a TKO win over Chael Sonnen at UFC 159.
Jones defended the light heavyweight title eight times before he was stripped of the belt following a hit-and-run incident that took place in April 2015.
Cormier stepped up and won Jones’ belt with a dominant performance against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson via a third-round rear-naked choke submission at UFC 187. He then defended the title in an epic split-decision victory against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 192 before waiting for Jones to return to the Octagon.
Cormier is probably still best known for winning the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament as an injury replacement four years ago by beating Jeff Monson, Antonio Silva and Josh Barnett.
The two fighters could not be any more different stylistically and personality-wise, setting up one of the most highly anticipated rematches ever on the biggest UFC card of all-time at UFC 200.
A former Olympic-level wrestler, the 37-year-old Cormier crushed Johnson by taking him to the ground and punishing him. That was something he could not do versus the 28-year-old Jones the first time around.
Jones is a freakish athlete who has rarely been challenged. With Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey both losing their air of invincibility with losses over the past year, Jones has become the face of the organization again.
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