Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen: Breaking Down Expert Picks for UFC 159 Main Event

UFC 159 will be headlined by the fight between Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen for the light heavyweight championship, with Jones largely expected to simply dominate his opponent on Saturday night.

Jones is a prolific fighter who is seemingly impossible to break down, and one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world today. That's nothing against Sonnen—it's just a statement as to how good and dominant Jones is when he steps into the octagon.

Bleacher Report's Jeremy Botter put it perfectly when he said Jones is "the future of the sport and might just be the present"—that's how good Jones is at mixed martial arts.

So it's natural that he'll go in as the favorite here, but can Sonnen pull off an upset? If he is, how's it going to happen? Read on to see what some of the top UFC experts from around the world see happening in this fight, and who they see emerging victorious.

Jon Wertheim, Sports Illustrated

Like many, Wertheim states the dominance of Jones as being too good to be beaten here—writing that the 25-year-old is simply better in every department.

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Put simply, it’s hard come up with a conceivable scenario in which Jones loses this fight. He’s superior on virtually every dimension, he’s younger, more athletic and will be the crowd favorite

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He opts for Jones in a technical knockout, which he has won in three of his past eight fights—all of which have been referee stoppage from strikes.

Prediction: Jones by TKO

Simon Head, The Daily Mirror

In his run-down of the fight, Head is quite clear about Sonnen not being the easy-beat who many are suggesting him to be. He talks through his taking down of Anderson Silva, and discusses the need for Sonnen to get Jones as quickly as possible.

However, as he gets to, Jones' reach makes him one of the toughest guys to get down, and his use of elbows and power-striking could also see a TKO win.

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The combination of long-range and short-range attacks, plus Jones' unorthodox striking style, makes him dangerous wherever the fight goes.  His submissions are generally underrated, and if he ends up in the top position with the fight on the mat, Sonnen can expect to find himself on the receiving end of a salvo of elbows.

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Prediction: Jones by TKO

Tyron Woodley, UFC Welterweight Fighter

UFC Welterweight fighter Tryon Woodley spoke exclusively with Bleacher Report (video link) about who he thought would take out this fight—giving Sonnen a chance granted he can get Jones on his back, but still thinking that Jones would prevail in the end.

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I think Jon Jones, on paper, has all the ways to beat him. He's longer, I think his striking's better, I think he's a good wrestler...

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Prediction: Jones (no reasoning given)

Phil Davis, UFC Light Heavyweight Fighter

UFC Light Heavyweight fighter Phil Davis also spoke exclusively with Bleacher Report (video link), but gave a slightly different take on how he saw the fight.

Orginally, he felt Jones would dominate, but he gave Sonnen a real chance at victory here—perhaps more than any other expert prediction out there. 

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I used to think that that fight would be pretty one-sided [but] I'm not sure it's going to down that way anymore. I think Chael's really going to present a lot of obstacles for Jon Jones, so I think that fight's going to be split decision.

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But in the end, not even he could bring himself to pick a Jones defeat, saying that Sonnen would win "the first, the third, and the first two minutes of the fifth".

Prediction: Jones by split decision

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