Weight Class: Light Heavyweight The bad blood has finally reached boiling point. It's time to settle things in the cage. Jon Jones (20-1) and Daniel Cormier (15-0) do not like each other. They probably never will. Cormier has been after Jones since deciding to drop to light heavyweight, as the undefeated wrestler and former Strikeforce heavyweight champion has a beef with Jones over some alleged disrespect on behalf of the champ. Jones has pulled just about every possible PR blunder going into this fight, using his daughter to deliver a "My daddy is going to kick your a--" message online, sparking a brawl at a media event, and threatening to kill Cormier. Leading into fight week, he's still talking, belittling Cormier's win over Dan Henderson. Cormier, for his part, has tried to take the high road - but it hasn't been easy. Will all this impact the action in the octagon? Possibly. Jones has said he intended to beat Cormier at his own game, wrestling. That's something "Bones" has done before. He got inside and worked that stand-up game against Glover Texeira in his last fight, an area the Brazilian fighter was thought to have the upper hand in. So it wouldn't be surprising to see Jones try to out-wrestle Cormier, but in reality, Cormier has some of the best wrestling in MMA. This fight, as much as we hate to say it, may come down to whether Cormier can overcome the reach advantage of Jones. Many would love to see Jones take a loss, but really, he's just that good. Gustafsson came the closest to beating the champ, and we don't see that changing. Cormier will go the distance, but Jones will take the decision win.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
