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UFC 232 Betting Preview: Jones vs. Gustafsson Odds, Trends, Card Analysis

OddsShark.com

Despite moving UFC 232 to the Los Angeles area less than one week before the event, there has been virtually no effect on the betting odds for the two championship bouts on the card at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.

Jon "Bones" Jones (22-1, 1 NC) had a drug test come back positive for a trace of turinabol in his system, forcing the promotion to relocate Saturday's Jones vs. Gustafsson card to The Forum in Inglewood, California.

Jones is coming off a 15-month suspension for a failed drug test involving the same substance by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, and the Nevada State Athletic Commission could not clear him in time for the card to go on as scheduled at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Regardless, he is still set to fight for the vacant light heavyweight title against former top contender Alexander Gustafsson (18-4) in a rematch from 2013 in the main event. Jones won the first meeting by a five-round unanimous decision at UFC 165, defending his title for the sixth time, and he is back as a -285 favorite (bet $285 to win $100) on the UFC odds here.

While the 31-year-old Jones last entered the Octagon on July 29 of last year at UFC 214 versus Daniel Cormier and saw a third-round knockout victory overturned to a no-contest following his positive drug test, Gustafsson has been out of action even longer.

The 31-year-old Gustafsson, a +225 underdog (bet $100 to win $225), scored a fifth-round KO win over Glover Teixeira in his most recent bout at UFC Fight Night 109 in his home country of Sweden on May 28, 2017. He was slated to fight a few times since then over the past year, but injuries to himself or his opponent prevented that from happening.

In the co-main event, a women's superfight of sorts will also take place when featherweight champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino (20-1, 1 NC) battles bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes (16-4) for the 145-pound title. The two Brazilians had talked about fighting each other for a while in order to determine the UFC's best female fighter, and the lack of competition in each division made this Cyborg vs. Nunes card a possibility and reality.

Cyborg is undefeated in the organization, going a perfect 5-0 in catchweight and featherweight bouts since making the transition as the Invicta FC featherweight champ. She is a comparable favorite to Jones at -260, with Nunes listed as a +200 underdog.

Nunes is moving up from 135 pounds and riding a seven-fight winning streak at bantamweight since suffering her last loss, falling to Cat Zingano by third-round TKO at UFC 178 on September 27, 2014. She won the bantamweight belt with a first-round rear-naked-choke submission of Miesha Tate at UFC 200 in July of 2016 and then followed that up by knocking out Ronda Rousey in 48 seconds to close out the year.

     

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