For Jon Jones' next fight, former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida sees "Bones" retaining his stitle. "The Dragon" also believes that former challenger Alexander "The Mauler" Gustafsson is still a better match-up for the current 205-pound champion.
Jon Jones' next fight against former heavyweight contender Daniel "DC" Cormier is scheduled to take place as the headline bout at UFC 182 on January 3rd in Las Vegas. Jones is eyeing for his eighth straight title defense, while Cormier will be making his debut at light heavyweight.
Lyoto Machida, who had the opportunity to face the current 205-pound champ for the title, spoke about Jon Jones next fight. For "The Dragon", the title will not be changing hands after fight night.
"I think Jones retains his belt," Machida told Sherdog.com. "Cormier is a great fighter, but the matchup isn't very favorable for him, with the reach issue and stuff. Cormier has very solid wrestling, but if you look at the big picture from a technical point of view, I don't see him winning."
As a fighter with a decorated wrestling background, Cormier mainly relies on putting intense pressure on his opponents, tiring them in the process. This particular strategy has brought him a generous amount of success back when he was fighting for the now defunct Strikeforce organization, where he won the heavyweight Grand Prix title.
But for Machida, size will play a big role in the match-up between Jones and Cormier. "Bones" holds a significant 12-inch reach advantage, and a towering 5-inch height advantage. In which case, he believes that former challenger Alexander Gustafsson, whose body frame is virtually identical with that of Jones, has a better chance.
"I think [Alexander] Gustafsson, who's taller and has a longer reach, can give Jones a hard time," Machida continued. "But then, I see Cormier being a bad matchup for Gustafsson. It's all about the matchups."
