Jon Jones and Anthony Smith both agree that the betting odds for their upcoming UFC light heavyweight title fight are a little wide.
Smith was told at media day Wednesday that Jones, the 205-pound champion, was about a 14-to-1 favorite. Jones is currently an 8-to-1 favorite, which is still very high. Jones defends his title against Smith in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 231 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“14 to 1? Who makes these f-cking odds?” Smith asked in an interview with MMA Fighting. “Jon Jones is 14-0, 1 NC in his last 15 fights. I’m 14-2 in my last 16. 14 to 1? Come on. That’s crazy. You could put a dead body in there off the couch and it should be better than 14 to 1. That’s insane.”
Though Smith may disagree with the odds, he doesn’t mind being such a big underdog — in fact, he’s used to it.
“It’s more comical than anything,” Smith said. “It doesn’t really bother me. It’s just like, ‘Jesus Christ, are you serious?’ It’s nuts. I’ve been an underdog my whole life. I would imagine that most of my UFC fights I was the underdog, and that’s just how it is.”
Jones agrees with his opponent, adding in the fact that Smith has so much more MMA experience than he does.
“I think it’s bullsh-t that he’s such an underdog,” Jones told MMA Fighting at media day. “If anything, I should be the underdog. This guy has fought 70 times — he had 30 amateur fights, and he’s had 40 professional fights. 70 fights to my 25.”
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