Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones (25-1, 10 KOs, 6 SUBs) will defend the title against undefeated Dominick Reyes (12-0, 7 KOs, 2 SUBs) at UFC 247 on Saturday, February 8, 2019 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The main card airs live on pay-per-view starting 10pm ET.
Ready or not, Dominic Reyes has reached the final boss at 205 pounds. This Saturday, the undefeated former NFL hopeful will challenge Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title.
Any mention of Jones comes with the default GOAT description. That hasn’t changed: this is still a fighter that’s technically unbeaten in 26 fights, scalping contenders and future hall of famers like Daniel Cormier, Shogun Rua, Rampage Jackson and Lyoto Machida in the process. He lapped the weight class years ago to the point where the UFC is struggling to find credible challengers to face him.
Reyes is about as qualified as it gets. He’s undefeated, with wins over Jared Cannonier, OSP, Oezdemir and Chris Weidman. There’s also the fact that he’s a long, athletic fighter with some sweet highlight reel KOs. In a thin division, a minor win streak and a passing eye test grade is usually good enough to land you a title shot these days.
The UFC odds at BookMaker.eu opened with Jones as a heavy -425 favorite, with Reyes at +307 on the comeback. The early action has been behind the champ for the past few weeks, driving his line down 30 points. Let’s take a look at the online sportsbook and break down your best betting options. Live UFC betting at BookMaker lets you make bets during the fight as needed.
UFC Odds at BookMaker.eu
Dominick Reyes +331
Jon Jones -465
Fight goes/doesn’t go to decision: +180 / -260
Significant Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Jones 4.31 / Reyes 5.05
Striking accuracy: Jones 57% / Reyes 52%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Jones 2.03 / Reyes 2.27
Striking defense: Jones 65% / Reyes 58%
Grappling Stats
Takedowns per 15 minutes: Jones 1.9 / Reyes 0.4
Takedown accuracy: Jones 46% / Reyes 16%
Takedown defense: Jones 95% / Reyes 85%
Submissions per 15 minutes: Jones 0.48 / Reyes 0.4
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It doesn’t take much to rile up the champ, but Reyes has really gotten under his skin. Does that help or hurt him? Or does it even matter? Most fans will say that it doesn’t - the talent and experience gap between the two is too great to expect a major upset.
We’re inclined to agree with the public sentiment. There’s one caveat: Jones is coming off the closest fight of his career: a split decision win over Santos that he arguably lost. Don’t at us with the first Gustafsson fight - it’s common knowledge that the Jackson-Wink ace barely even trained for that. The question here is whether the Santos matchup is a sign that the untouchable Bones is finally starting to fade. Because in this sport, once a division catches up with a dude, things can go downhill quick.
UFC Odds Pick: Parlay Jones to win at -465
Even if Bones is fading, there’s no chance that he just falls off a cliff. He’s a higher level striker than Reyes and the wrestling isn’t even close. There’s just too many avenues of victory for him to fail, and you can feel safe boosting another bet with this pick. If Reyes barely got by Oezdemir, what do you think Jones is gonna do to him? There’s levels to this.
UFC Odds Pick: Jones to win by submission
Reyes is a phenomenal athlete, but he has yet to be tested by an elite grappler (an upjumped middleweight in Weidman doesn’t count). He might be solid on the ground, but the champ is both a takedown wizard and a submission ace. There’s a high chance that he locks up something that Reyes doesn’t see coming, whether it’s through a prolonged grappling exchange or a power shot followup. The price for the victory prop warrants a small bet.
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