UFC 285: Previewing Jon Jones vs. Cyril Gane and the Rest of the Card
Jon Jones fights are always a big deal, but this one is huge.
The former light heavyweight champion is often touted as the greatest fighter of all time, and he will make his long-awaited debut in the heavyweight division after over three years away from the sport against fearsome Frenchman Ciryl Gane, with the vacant title on the line.
It's a compelling fight for many reasons. Most of those reasons surround Jones.
The whole fight world is keen to see how the dynastic light heavyweight champion, who vacated the belt in 2020 to move up a division, will fare in the UFC's heavyweight class. His long lay-off, which is due in large part to a contract dispute with the promotion, only adds uncertainty to his move up, as does the fact that he looked unusually human in his last two light heavyweight fights—controversial decision wins over Dominick Reyes and Thiago Santos, both of whom have fallen off considerably since.
Jones also has a very tough opponent for his heavyweight debut. Gane is not some middling contender but the division's former interim champion, and far and away its sharpest striker. And while the Frenchman lost a unanimous decision to Ngannou in his lone bid for an undisputed UFC title last year, he quickly rebounded with a stoppage win over the tough Tai Tuivasa to prove he is still very much a player in the division.
Gane is surely taking some comfort in the fact that Jones hasn't fought in years and that he has looked beatable in his last few appearances. However, he is undoubtedly sweating Jones' skills too. Not only is the former light heavyweight champion a slick striker and submission specialist, but he is one of the most effective wrestlers in MMA history. Given that Gane was taken down multiple times by Ngannou, who does not have a wrestling background, he should be concerned about this facet of the matchup.
Who wins? The oddsmakers are leaning towards Jones, but he is only a -150 favorite, per DraftKings, which reflects the competitive and unpredictable nature of this matchup.
One way or the other, it should be a treat for the fans—even if it is a consolation prize. The fight we all wanted to see was Jones vs. Ngannou, but the UFC wasn't willing to give the former heavyweight king what he wanted, so we're getting the next best thing.
For many years, Jon Jones was considered the greatest male fighter in the world, regardless of weight class. That's precisely the reputation that flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko now has on the women's side of the sport.
The Kyrgyzstani striking specialist first got her hands on UFC gold in December of 2018, when she defeated former strawweight champion and MMA legend Joanna Jedrzejczyk by decision to claim the vacant flyweight belt.
She has defended the belt a whopping six times in the intervening years, defeating the best opposition the UFC could find, and finishing many of them—most notably former strawweight champ Jessica Andrade.
However, Shevchenko lacked her usual dominance in her last fight, narrowly retaining her title with a split-decision win over Brazil's Taila Santos.
That competitive victory is going to be a serious source of comfort for the flyweight queen's next challenger, Alexa Grasso, who will enter the cage at UFC 285 as a big betting underdog.
Grasso arrived in the UFC as a strawweight, and many people considered her a future champion in the division. While she ended up struggling a bit in that weight class, she has since found new life at flyweight, rattling off wins over Ji Yeon Kim, Maycee Barber, Joanne Wood and Viviane Araujo to earn a shot at the champion.
Over the course of those victories, she has cemented herself as one of the division's best boxers and a pretty solid grappler too.
She is going to need all of those skills against Shevchenko—and a perfect game plan too—but a victory for the Mexican contender is not out of the realm of possibility. And after watching her countrymen Brandon Moreno and Yair Rodriguez win UFC titles this year, she surely knows it can be done.
Russia's Khamzat Chimaev may be the new welterweight contender everybody is talking about, but Kazakhstan's Shavkat Rakhmonov has been just as impressive since joining the UFC roster. He also makes weight for his fights, and he doesn't glad-hand with one of the most barbaric dictators in the world, which is great!
Rakhmonov will make his next walk to the Octagon at UFC 285, when he takes on No. 7-ranked welterweight contender Geoff Neal.
Neal is the highest-ranked opponent Rakhmonov has fought to date, but it's hard to say if he is a tougher stylistic matchup than Neil Magny, who the Kazakh effortlessly choked out in his last fight. One way or the other, the American's massive punching power will make this one interesting for as long as it lasts.
The other great thing about this matchup is that, no matter who wins, the victor is probably only going to be a win or two away from a title shot.
Rakhmonov is already 4-0 in the UFC, with all of those wins coming by way of finish before the end of the second round. Neal, meanwhile, is riding back-to-back wins over established contenders in Vicente Luque and Santiago Ponzinibbio.
Both of these welterweights are very, very good, and you can bet the division's reigning champ, Leon Edwards, will be watching this one closely.
Derek Brunson (23-8) vs. Dricus Du Plessis (18-2)
South Africa's Dricus De Plessis has been one of the most interesting middleweight contenders to emerge over the last year or so, and he is closing in on a title shot after a stoppage victory over Darren Till in his last fight.
His UFC 285 fight with Derek Brunson, who has long stood out as one of the division's top contenders, could push him the rest of the way. However, his wrestling will need to be on point against the American, and he'll also need to keep his chin tucked, as Brunson has big power—even if he sometimes gets a little wild on the feet.
Ian Garry (10-0) vs. Kenan Song (19-6)
Ian Garry often draws comparisons to Conor McGregor. That's not just because they're both Irish, but also because they're both very good. It remains to be seen if Garry will win a UFC title—let alone two like McGregor—but he'll attempt to take the next step in that direction when he battles Chinese welterweight Kenan Song at UFC 285.
At a glance, this one looks like a bit of a gimme for the Irishman, but Song is a strong 4-2 in the Octagon, and his lone losses have come to solid fighters in Max Griffin and Alex Moron—so he's actually anything but an easy matchup.
No matter how it goes down, this one should tell us a lot about both welterweights.
Cody Garbrandt (12-5) vs. Trevin Jones (13-9)
Cody Garbrandt has had one of the most dramatic fall-offs in recent MMA history. After winning the bantamweight belt with a gorgeous decision win over Dominick Cruz, he has gone a terrible 1-5 in his last six. Not even a drop down to flyweight could correct his course, as he suffered a first-round knockout to Kai Kara-France in his divisional debut.
The craziest part of all of this is that Garbrandt still has the boxing and wrestling to beat a lot of the sport's best bantamweights.
He will look to get back on track against Guam's Trevin Jones, who has never been ranked in the division and is coming off three straight losses. He is about the safest matchup the former champ could get.
If Garbrandt doesn't win this one, it's probably over for him in the UFC—though he can probably expect an offer from BKFC, an organization that loves signing shopworn fighters who should probably just retire.
Bo Nickal (3-0) vs. Jamie Pickett (13-8)
After back-to-back first-round finishes on Dana White's Contender Series last year, three-time D1 NCAA wrestling champion Bo Nickal will make his official Octagon debut against Jamie Pickett at UFC 285.
Nickal is already being touted as a future middleweight contender. That kind of talk is way, way premature. However, he has effectively been given a freebie here, as Pickett has lost four of six fights in the Octagon, and three of those by stoppage.
Time will tell how far Nickal can go, but don't expect his hype train to derail in Vegas.
