UFC 247: Jones vs. Reyes Betting Preview

The unbeaten Dominick “The Devastator” Reyes will challenge the light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones in the main event at UFC 247. The Toyota Center will be doing the honors of hosting the event on Saturday. 

Jones has defended his belt successfully 10 times, so Reyes better be ready for this matchup. 

Main Event Odds

The odds for UFC 247 Jones vs. Reyes are currently at:

• Jon Jones: -420
• Dominick Reyes: +335

The Fighters

Jones (25-1-0) is hands-down one of the best pound-for-pound fighters. If you take away his no-contest and his rule book” loss,” the man is virtually unbeatable. 

He has a great striking accuracy of 58 percent, so he can really land some punches with great consistency. He also has a grappling accuracy of 47 percent, so half of his attempts at a takedown are successful.

For every 4.31 signature strikes Jones lands a minute, he absorbs 2.03 strikes, so he is hitting his opponents 2:1. He lands signature strikes 18 percent of the time in clinches, 19 percent on the ground, and 63 percent while standing. 

His strikes usually aim at the head 48 percent of the time, while his other strikes go for the legs at 28 percent. He also has a takedown defense of 95 percent, so his opponents do not get the opportunity to take him to the ground. 

Reyes (12-0-0) is the fourth-best man in the light heavyweight division. It is no secret that this guy likes to win, taking 12 straight fights in a row to stay undefeated. 

He also has a great striking accuracy of 57 percent, and it shows that this man loves to throw punches. However, he has been somewhat horrendous at grappling, with an accuracy of 17 percent. This could potentially hinder him later in his career. 

He lands 5.05 signature strikes a minute and absorbs 2.27, so he has a slightly better ratio than Jones here. It is no surprise, but 50 percent of his strikes are aimed at his opponent’s head. 

He lands signature strikes by standing 73 percent of the time, 17 percent by clinch, and 10 percent on the ground. His takedown defense is slightly lower than Jones’ at 86 percent. 

Final Thoughts

Jones and Reyes will be another great fight to watch.

After stacking up on paper, Reyes should put up a good fight when it turns into a boxing match. However, there are some things that are concerning on his part that cannot be overlooked and could play against him. 

Reyes does not have much success in his grappling or ground game. He has relied a little too heavily on his stand up and has surprisingly done well this far. 

One thing is for certain: he is not going to come in the octagon and manhandle Jones for a knockout. Jones is too well versed in fighting to let something like that happen. 

Jones should be able to pick and choose his strategy here. He has a successful ground game with six victories by submission. 

He has a well-balanced winning resume and can do it in any way he pleases. For example, with his 84.5-inch reach, he can wear down Reyes without getting too close to his powerful punches. 

Jones has seen and done this before. He knows how to fight against a hungry opponent that is coming for blood. Jones has also taken care of just about every great fighter in the light heavyweight division in the past. 

I look for Jones to still be aggressive here and to have a good fight strategy. Jones wins by KO/TKO.