Jon Jones v Alexander Gustafsson Betting Tips & Predictions -


Betting Tips

Jon Jones v Alexander Gustafsson Betting Tips & Predictions

Here are our best Jon Jones v Alexander Gustafsson betting tips. UFC 232 ranks as the latest offering from the vastly popular, worldwide phenomenon that is the Ultimate Fighting Championship series. The show returns to Nevada where the T-Mobile Arena plays host. A battleground for so many memorable nights in the past it’s little wonder fight fans are delighted to be back in Paradise.

Saturday 29th December was penned into the diaries of MMA lovers quite some time ago; armchair fans in the UK can follow the main talking points of the programme courtesy of BT Sport’s live coverage. It’s a late one, with the main event due on at 03:00 GMT on the Sunday morning; however, if the card can live up to the billing it’ll certainly be worth staying up for.

The main event is a light heavyweight contest between former champion Jon Jones and one-time title contender Alexander Gustafsson. With both gladiators desperate to land the win needed to drive themselves back towards the big time, setting-up some massive fights in the new year, we’re expecting a real guts and glory performance.

Stunning Undercard

The headline act is backed up by a stunning undercard to finish 2018 in style. We have Cris Cyborg defending her women’s featherweight title against Amanda Nunes; Carlos Condit v Michael Chiesa at welterweight, Llir Latifi v Corey Anderson light heavyweight and Chad Mendes v Alexander Volkanovski which comes in under the featherweight category.

There’s also a Preliminary Card that’ll be shown on Fox Sports; that consists of Andrei Arlovski v Walt Harris heavyweight; Cat Zingano v Megan Anderson women’s featherweight; Douglas Silva de Andrade v Petr Yan bantamweight and PJ Penn v Ryan Hall lightweight.

For diehard followers of the sport there’s then a catchy Early Preliminary Card which gives those in attendance value for money. Brian Kelleher v Montel Jackson is one of two proposed bantamweight ties; the other is Andre Ewell v Nathaniel Wood, and we sit through Uriah Hall v Bevon Lewis at middleweight and Curtis Millender v Siyar Bahadurzada welterweight.

Chance Your Luck with a Bet

As well as being able to settle down on your sofa for a night of high drama from the octagon it’s also possible to add a bit more spice to the occasion thanks to bookmakers. Traders offer a full range of markets on the most talked about fights, including winner.

Decide on who you think will prevail and get your stake money down. If you’re on point you’ll edge a small profit. However, if after more you can add a few predictions to an accumulator for a small outlay. If all selections are correct you’ll land a chunky prize.

After the real riches? A bet on the method of victory market could be for you. There’s more of a risk involved here but the gold at the end of the rainbow is well worth chasing. Pick which fighter you think will win the bout and do it in a double with the method of victory – deciding on submission, knockout or points.

If you are planning a bet on this market our advice would always be to do your research and take a lead from the form of both fighters. However, if the favourite is on a run of knockout wins and their opponent has been stopped in the past, the jolly by KO/TKO is the obvious pick. If they are more of a technical fighter, seek out the value about a points win.

Bones Back for More

Former two-time UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones fights out of New Mexico where he represents the Jackson Wink MMA Academy. The 31-year-old from Rochester, New York has been active on the MMA circuit since 2008 and has amassed a record of 22 wins from 24 starts. A closer look at his stats shows he is an all-round fighter with nine of his wins coming by way of knockout, seven by decision and six on submission. He’s comfortable going on the attack early or playing the waiting game and using his knowledge of the game.

Bones has suffered only one loss to date with one fight resulted as a no contest. The latter came in his most recent outing in July of last year. A fight Jones originally won by KO for the UFC light heavyweight title, the result was void when the victor tested positive for the banned substance Turinabol. That left Jones’ reputation and standing in the game in tatters.

Will he be able to put it behind him and get back to winning ways after more than a year out of action? It shouldn’t be forgotten that Jon hasn’t lost an MMA fight in nine years when going down to Matt Hamill early in his career. That was the result of a disqualification after Jones was pulled for using illegal blows, not something that we’ll read too much into, given his inexperience at the time and we’re sure a repeat of that is unlikely.

Bookies Back the Return

Bookies have Jon Jones as hot favourite to return to winning ways on UFC 232 and that would be a popular result with his followers. There’s no more than Bet365’s 4/11 on the fav doing as expected and that’s market best price at the time of writing. Tight, of course, but it’s difficult to argue against that stance. Not one that’ll make you rich on its own, no doubt about that; however, it could come in useful when added to your fight night accumulators.

Those who’d like to see a bigger price before parting with their hard-earned cash should know each of Jones last four wins have come by decision; that’s worth keeping in mind when approaching this match-up. Back Jones to win by decision again at attractive odds. That play makes much more sense to us than the KO or submission and goes down as our main bet of the fight.

The Viking Could Be Value

Alexander Gustafsson may arrive as underdog with the money men; however, that won’t faze him in the slightest and he’ll go in supremely confident he has what it takes to beat a man who has been out of action for some time. If Jones is rusty in any way and starts slow he’ll be made pay a heavy price by the man they call The Mauler.

The 31-year-old Swede fights out of Stockholm and carries a CV showing 18 wins from 22 fights. That includes 11 by knockout, which is testament to the concussive power he brings, four by decision and three coming through a submission finish. Of his four losses in mixed martial arts, the former amateur boxer has lost two on the scorecards, one by knockout and a single submission.

Jones v Gustafsson: Will There Be an Upset?

Does Gustafsson have any chance of causing an upset and landing backers a bit of value? Traders really don’t think so and are confident enough to send out a market best price of 12/5 and that’s a quote you’ll find at online giants Coral. That’s a big enough offer to take out the need for the method of victory but if you are having The Viking and fancy a big night, we wouldn’t put you off a KO/TKO upset, given his boxing pedigree.

Our Tip: Jon Jones to win – 4/7 at Bet365