The UFC 192 main event is officially set. The UFC announced during the UFC Fight Night 72 broadcast that UFC 192, which takes place Oct. 3 at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, will be headlined by a five-round light heavyweight title fight between champion Daniel Cormier and challenger Alexander Gustafsson. The co-main event of the evening was previously announced as a three-round light heavyweight bout between former UFC champion Rashad Evans and top contender Ryan Bader. Cormier and Gustafsson is a tremendous fight, and with Evans versus Bader set as the co-main event for the card, the near future of the UFC light heavyweight division is mapped out with Jon Jones still on the sidelines for the considerable future due to legal issues stemming from an alleged hit-and-run incident. It’s all but certain that the winner of Cormier vs. Gustafsson will fight the winner of Evans vs. Bader for the title shot following the results of UFC 192. This more-or-less amounts to a mini-tournament for the belt, with four of the top-five active 205lbers other than Anthony Johnson competing on the same night. Odds were released for Cormier vs. Gustafsson already, with Cormier a comfortable favorite heading into the fight at Cormier currently at -300 and Gustafsson at -250. Like I’ve said when the odds were released, I agree with Cormier being the clear favorite heading into the fight, but I still do not believe Gustafsson can be completely written off here. He did get knocked out by Johnson, but he gave Jones the best fight of Jones’ career to date and I still believe in Gustafsson’s ability and skills. I’m not sure if he beats Cormier, but I think this fight is more competitive than most are making it out to be, and at the current odds I don’t see too much value in betting on this fight. Of course, there’s still a few months away and by the time the fight comes I might think differently, but right now I do believe at the current odds this is a dog-or-pass situation. I’m excited for the UFC 192 card, and I’m curious to see what other fights the promotion adds to the event. The last time a fight card was in Houston was at UFC 166 in Oct. 2013, when Cain Velasquez demolished Junior dos Santos in an epic heavyweight encounter. If Gustafsson vs. Cormier is anything like it, it’s going to be a magical night for fight fans; we can only hope it lives up the potential.
