Daniel Cormier Opens as Slight Favourite Over Anthony Johnson

Published on April 30th, 2015 10:24 am EST
The main event of UFC 187 was changed earlier this week after former Light Heavyweight champion, Jon "Bones" Jones, was suspended and stripped of his title.

The new main event will now feature Daniel Cormier vs Anthony "Rumble" Johnson for the vacant Light Heavyweight championship.

Daniel Cormier lost to Jon "Bones" Jones in his most recent fight. The loss was extremely demoralizing to Cormier as it was his first as a professional mixed martial arts fighter. In addition, Cormier and Jones DO NOT like each other which caused Cormier to take the loss in an especially hard way. Cormier, however, kept his positivity and will now be squaring off against Johnson for the title.

Anthony "Rumble" Johnson, on the other hand, earned his title shot with an impressive victory over Alexander Gustafsson earlier in the year. Johnson is one of the best stories going in mixed martial arts right now, as he has completely turned around his career after being cut by the UFC a few years ago. Johnson is now 3-0 in the UFC since returning to the promotion and is just one win away from claiming the Light Heavyweight title, a feat that many would have considered impossible just a few short months ago.

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Daniel Cormier, likely by virtue of his superlative wrestling, is currently the slight favourite to win on May 23rd. Here are the current betting odds:

Anthony Johnson, +115
Daniel Cormier, -145

A close contest? Absolutely. According to these odds, Anthony Johnson has a 46.51% chance of winning while Daniel Cormier has a 59.17% chance of claiming the title.

As mentioned, Cormier's wrestling puts him ahead of Johnson in the eyes of many bookmakers. However, Anthony "Rumble" Johnson has one-punch knockout power and has the ability to turn out Cormier's lights with just one shot.

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The winner of this fight may get the returning Jon Jones next, provided that Jones isn't cut by the UFC or sentenced to jail.

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