UFC
Jon Jones opens as massive favorite over Vitor Belfort at UFC 152
Aug 24, 2012 - 12:05:47 PM Jon Jones opens as massive favorite over Vitor Belfort at UFC 152

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Jon Jones was already considered a prohibitive betting favorite over Dan Henderson into next week's UFC 151 event, and it's going to be an even bigger disparity in his favor by the time he actually steps into the cage at UFC 152.

With Henderson suffering a knee injury, Jones was put into a fight with Lyoto Machida, where oddsmakers had him open as a -485 favorite. That was slightly less than the Dan Henderson line, but nothing compared to the opening line for his new matchup against Vitor Belfort.

The opening line for that new UFC 152 main event has Jones opening up as a -925 favorite, via BetOnFighting.com. That puts Belfort as a massive betting underdog at +625.

For those still unfamiliar with betting lines in MMA, a $100 bet placed on Belfort would bring a profit of $625 in the event that he won. Conversely, in order to win $100 on Jones you'd need to place a bet of $925.

This is the largest opening line disparity in a UFC Championship in years, besting the UFC 112 bout between B.J. Penn and Frankie Edgar, which had Penn as a -850 favorite, though he, of course, lost that bout.

Penick's Analysis: This isn't shocking in any way, shape, or form. Belfort was an out-of-left-field choice in the first place, has been fighting a weight class below, and hasn't fought since January due to injury. Jones is still the best light heavyweight in the world, if not the best fighter overall. And regardless of the negative thoughts levied his way this week for not taking the Chael Sonnen fight, it doesn't change what he does in the cage.

UPDATE: A couple of even bigger lines have opened in Jones' favor, with one sportsbook listing him at -1200, and another book at -1300.

[Jon Jones art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]