There has to be one lower-salaried pick on any DraftKings UFC contest, and Alan Jouban is the one for this event. The court also agreed not to limit his travel – meaning that, while the UFC has yet to formally lift his suspension, the path is now seemingly clear for Jones to return to competition in the coming months. Following on from his aforementioned loss to Phil Davis, the first defeat of his professional career, the 28-year-old reeled off six straight victories in the UFC. Not only was he involved in the April accident, but in January he also tested positive for cocaine metabolites and spent one day in rehab. This fight is much more complicated that tall guy vs. short guy, but reach does come into play.
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But on October 3 at the Toyota Center in Houston, he must advance from thoughts of missed opportunities, as he will once again fight for the UFC light heavyweight title against defending champion and former Olympian, Daniel Cormier.
“Fighting as the champion is the same to me as fighting as a contender”. Hendricks bounced back from losing his title to Robbie Lawler with an impressive decision win over Matt Brown. Cormier actually beat Johnson to win the vacant title in May by third-round submission. Jones is a freakish talent and made the necessary adjustments, but Gustafsson surprised him with improvements and aspects to his game that hadn’t been as finely tuned before as they were on that night.
That was a tough pill to swallow, as he was in line to face the resurgent Anthony Johnson.
Estragon: I’m asking you if we’re tied. Sidelined for almost two years with a knee injury, Evans hasn’t fought since his first-round TKO over Chael Sonnen at UFC 167. “D.C.is putting so much on beating Jones, but if he goes out there and loses?”
Gustafsson has earned knockout victories with the help of a movement-heavy, in-and-out style that’s caused confusion for the majority of his opponents.
Woodley is one of those fighters who generally seems to engage based on his opponent. He won season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter before competing in the UFC.
For Gustafsson, he’s simply happy to be back at the doorstep of the championship.
Any murkiness could lift in the near future, as Jones’ return looms following his plea agreement struck earlier this week.
Here is episode three of UFC 192 embedded… Serra immediately pounced and beat him senseless until the referee had to step in and stop the fight.
Cormier experienced the feeling, and he expects Gustafsson to understand it fully. Most likely, no. Can he at least be a top-tier fighter in this young man’s game? We don’t recognize what he’s been doing these most recent couple of months, however in the event that he’s been preparing so be it. In the event that there was ever an uncertainty that I need to get back in the octagon with that man, please put it to rest.
While many have isolated Cormier’s grappling as his main advantage, others point to Gustafsson’s striking as something that the champion might struggle with.
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That said, I like to keep Spencer guessing until the end of my pick and my gut says Pena comes in with a slight upset. “He had to go through this and hopefully he becomes a better person because of it”.
