Prior to every UFC battle card, Jay Primetown of all MMAOddsBreaker.com takes a look at some of the essential competitions at each function. In the latest installment, we look at UFC 214’s blockbuster main event as Jon Jones returns to the Octagon to face Daniel Cormier at a bitter grudge match for the light heavyweight championship.
Daniel Cormier (Record: 19-1, +235 Underdog, Power Ranking: A+)
The 38-year-old Olympic wrestler turned MMA fighter has turned into among the best light heavyweights of all time. Of his 20 bouts, the only time he watched defeat was to Jones at the very first meeting. Since that blow in 2015, Cormier has won four consecutive bouts, with victories over Alexander Gustafsson, Anthony Johnson (double ) and Anderson Silva.
Being undersized has never been a problem for Cormier in MMA. He actually made a name for himself in Strikeforce, beating the likes of Josh Barnett and Antonio Silva to be the last heavyweight champion in the organization before it was obtained by the UFC. Once in the UFC, Cormier quickly transitioned to light heavyweight and has become a Hall of Fame-caliber fighter. Despite being under six feet tall with just a 72.5-inch reach, Cormier has rarely had an issue with opponents even giving up to a foot at reach and six inches in height.
Statistically, Cormier is very strong. He lands 3.78 significant strikes per minute despite absorbing only 2.07. He secures nearly two takedowns a 15 minutes from the cage with an percent achievement rate on takedowns. Cormier has very good footwork for the weight class and does well to close space and force opponents to fight him at close range. He doesn’t have the knockout power to put quality opponents off early, but he has a very good chin, forcing rivals into a physical, energy draining bout. He’s shown to be among the toughest fighters to deal with in a cage over 25 minutes.
Jon Jones (Record: 22-1, -255 Favorite, Power Ranking: A++)
The 30-year-old Endicott, New York native is one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all all-time. In 23 fights, his hand was raised in all but one of these matches. The lone time it wasn’t raised was due to a disqualification in a fight he was winning decisively. Jones returns to action for the first time since an April 2016 conclusion win over Ovince Saint Preux, This fight will clean out any relevant contenders in his weight class.
The Jackson’s MMA product is the very best fighter in the world for a lot of reasons. To begin, physically he is very talented because his 84.5-inch hit is right near the top of the game. Jones uses his length very well, as he lands a whopping 2.25 more significant strikes a minute than he consumes. He places him right near the very top of this UFC in that class as well. He combines that with 94 percent takedown defense, making him difficult to hit and difficult to take into the mat.
Jones combines that defensive art with a creative striking game by means of a great deal of unorthodox kicks. On the ground, Jones has as barbarous of ground-and-pound as anybody in MMA. He delivers vicious elbows in top controller and is capable of completing in any struggle with that position. Jones has invested a great deal of time on the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu mats at his time off from MMA and it is certainly possible he incorporates a considerable submission grappling focus to his MMA prowess.
Matchup
At the most expected MMA bout of 2017, the former champion Jones returns to recover his light heavyweight championship against the current champ Cormier. Within their first bout, the struggle was rather even after two rounds, but Jones’ body function really begun to pay dividends at the next round, as he really started to out-land Cormier to acquire a determination. Furthermore, Jones even out-grappled Cormier, securing three takedowns when compared with the one his rival had from the bout.
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