The UFC is looking to start 2015 with a bang. And what better way to kick the year off with a high profile grudge match between today’s top light heavyweights.
Reigning champion and pound-for-pound mixed martial arts king Jon Jones has had the belt for three straight years now. And despite the non-stop slew of criticism thrown his way, one cannot take away the fact that “Bones” faced and defeated the who’s who of the UFC’s 205-pound division.
From former champions and PRIDE FC legends such as Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, to unorthodox and hard-to-solve opponents such as Lyoto Machida, to seasoned veterans such as Vitor Belfort, Jones has faced them all.
The one moment of vulnerability that the world has seen him in was against Swedish sensation Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsoon, who was able to inflict the most amount of damage within the 25 minutes of action.
Standing in his way is also a former champion from the now defunct Strikeforce organization. When Daniel “DC” Cormier’s opportunity to fight at the world’s premiere mixed martial arts organization came through, he wasted no time in proving himself to be worthy of being a part at such a talent-laden roster of fighters.
After a brief stint at the UFC’s heavyweight division by handily defeating veteran and former champion Frank Mir, Cormier immediately went down to the murderer’s row of a weight class at the light heavyweight division. His debut fight against Pat Cummins was kind of expected for him to win, but no one foresaw him rag-dolling Dan Henderson, another veteran and future Hall-of-Famer.
What makes this match up for a far more interesting fight that it already is is that there now lies a begrudged history between the two. When they first had their pre-fight media tour in July, the customary fighters’ face-off almost broke out into a brawl after Cormier shoved Jones, forcing the champion to retaliate with a punch.
The bout was originally scheduled for UFC 178 in September, but an injury placed Jones on the sidelines, forcing the bout to be moved to UFC 182 on January 3rd.
With only less than a month away until fight night, the UFC has released its very first promotional video for the said event. Watch it here:
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