Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier weighing in (Photo: Instagram)
By Kyle Hutchison
Unpredictability will be in the air as two expertly-trained fighters come face to face one last time before their fight tonight as UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones meets up with challenger Daniel Cormier.
Jones will attempt to defend his title for the 8th straight time against undefeated challenger Cormier from within the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The build-up to their contest has turned UFC 182 into one of the most highly anticipated events in the company’s history.
Trash talk between Jones and Cormier has become heated on several live television programs including ESPN’s Sportscenter. The hatred displayed in these videos is reminiscent of Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva from a few years ago.
Daniel Cormier, 35, is relatively new to the UFC but has dominated most of his fights. Starting his career as a heavyweight, Cormier has beaten former heavyweight champion Frank Mir, Ultimate Fighter winner Roy Nelson, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Josh “Warmaster” Burnett.
Even more impressive was Cormier’s dominant performance over former light heavyweight champion and UFC legend Dan Henderson this past May. That fight would lead to Cormier’s title shot.
Jon Jones’, 27, has dominated the light heavyweight division since his first fight against Andre Gusmao up until his most recent title defense against Glover Teixeira. His one loss came by disqualition while he was elbowing Matt Hamill repeatedly in the face while in the mount position.
Also on the card is the always exciting lightweight Daniel “Cowboy” Cerrone fighting 15-0 Miles Jury. This fight could potentially lead to a shot at the lightweight belt against current champion Anthony Pettis.
One fight on the main card that should be interesting is muscle-bound hector Lombard fighting Josh Burkman. Lombard, in his first fight in the UFC, rag-dolled a strong grappler in Jake Shields and should push for a welterweight title shot with a strong victory over Burkman.
I will be live tweeting the main card of UFC 182 on January 2nd at 10 pm ET and 7PM PT. Follow me on twitter, @HUTCH_noSTARKSY, for updates.