For the first time in just 17 months, arguably the UFC’s best fighter graces the Octagon again as Jon”Bones” Jones has his highly anticipated rematch against Alexander”The Mauler” Gustafsson for the light heavyweight championship at UFC 232. The former winner, Jones, won the first battle back in UFC 165 in 2013 and is a -300 favored for this fight with all the challenger, Gustafsson, coming back at +230.
Odds Analysis
The chances are a lot tighter than they had been the very first time that Jones and Gustafsson fought five decades back as Jones closed as a -800 favorite in that struggle with Gustafsson coming back in +550. The battle was extremely close with many thinking that the Sweden native edged from the New Yorker to claim the championship, but the judges saw it in favour of Jones to get a unanimous-decision victory.
Many people would jump on the fact that Bones has tested positive for performance enhancers in just two of his last 3 fights, both contrary to Daniel Cormier, also did not look like himself if he was”clean” contrary to Ovince Saint Preux. In the OSP struggle, however, Jones outstruck his opponent 111-58 and landed three takedowns for a unanimous-decision triumph. The other area of concern is that a long layoff for the former champ but that isn’t a element in this struggle as Gustafsson has been out more than Jones coping with accidents. I believe that the opening chances are where they ought to be and that I wouldn’t be surprised to find the line move a little bit in Gustafsson’s favor.
Recently, Jones had a test that revealed a few turinabol, the substance he had been suspended for 15 months for, nevertheless in his stuff. The Nevada State Athletic Commission did not have sufficient time to review all the science supporting this so the struggle was transferred to The Forum in Inglewood, California as their commission was coping with this medication when it comes to Jones for the previous year and a half. USADA has stated this was not a new ingestion of this prohibited substance and are letting him compete.
Breaking down Jones vs Gustafsson II
Jones (-300) is a very creative and talented fighter, employing a high-level fight IQ along with above-average wrestling. Bones has shown to a few occasions (his first fight vs Gustafsson) that the heart of a champion as he’s endured a lot of damage but continues pushing forward en route to a 22-1 record with his only loss being a disqualification. The 31-year-old’s last bout saw him knock Daniel Cormier out using a head kick, but the struggle was overturned into a no contest after a failed drug test.
Gustafsson (+230) is a exceptional boxer with fantastic cardio who doesn’t have a difficulty rising to the event. As stated previously, his first scrap with Jones was an epic war which left many wondering whose hands would be raised in the end of their 25 minutes. The Mauler put at a similar effort against Daniel Cormier at UFC 192, but once again came up empty-handed. The Sweden native only has two other losses on his album, a entry loss to Phil Davis in his second UFC fight along with a knockout in the hands of the ever-dangerous Anthony Johnson in 2015. The 31-year-old has not entered the Octagon since his dominant knockout victory over Glover Teixeira in May of 2017.
Jon outstruck Gustafsson 137-114 in their first meeting while each fighter landed a takedown. Both fighters were left bruised, battered and bloodied but it was Jones who left with his hand raised. Ever since, The Mauler was calling for a rematch while Bones proceeded to beat three other challengers, including Daniel Cormier twice.
It’ll be interesting to see what developments every fighter has made over the last year and a half. Obviously, Gustafsson has been coping with injuries, while Jones was working on his craft while on suspension. The New York native said that he didn’t train for his first bout with the Sweden native and that is why it was so snug. We’ll find out whether he had been telling the truth on December 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada to get UFC 232.
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