Jon Jones finds himself in unfamiliar territory: as an underdog heading right into a combat.
Jones, the previous UFC gentle heavyweight champion, will make his much-anticipated heavyweight debut March 4 at UFC 285 in Las Vegas, the place he’ll face Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight title. The belt grew to become vacant after reigning champ Francis Ngannou was launched following a greater than year-long contract dispute with the UFC.
Jones, 35, will enter UFC 285 as a slight underdog at +100, with Gane, 32, coming again as a -120 favourite, based on BestFightOdds.com. This implies a $100 guess on Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) would yield winnings of $100, whereas a $120 wager on Gane (11-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) would earn bettors $100.
This marks simply the third time in 23 UFC appearances that Jones has opened as a betting underdog and the primary time in virtually 14 years. The one different instances Jones opened as a betting underdog had been his first two UFC fights, most not too long ago when he confronted Stephan Bonnar at +140. Jones went on to defeat Bonnar by unanimous resolution on Jan. 31, 2009 at UFC 94.
Associated
Ciryl Gane: Jon Jones doesn't have 'a great way to win in opposition to me' at UFC 285
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Jones, thought-about by many to be the best MMA fighter of all time, will enter UFC 285 with query marks having not competed since February 2020, when he edged out a controversial resolution over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247. It marked his thirteenth profession title combat win at 205 kilos.
Gane, a former UFC interim heavyweight champion, is coming off a third-round knockout of Tai Tuivasa final September at UFC Combat Night time 209. The victory was a rebound from his lone profession setback, a unanimous resolution loss to Ngannou in a title-unification bout final January at UFC 270.
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