UFC 285 Preview
The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada is hosting one of the biggest events of the year. UFC 285 will feature two title fights and the return of all-time great Jon Jones. The main event will be for the vacant heavyweight title between Jones and former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane.
Jones will be returning to the octagon after a three-year layoff and will be making his debut as a heavyweight fighter. During his run as light heavyweight champion he was widely considered the greatest pound for pound fighter in the world. Does he believe a triumphant return against Gane means he is back at the top of the pound for pound list?
“I’m honored to still be here,” Jones said at the UFC 285 Media Day. “It’s great to still be here. I’ve been inactive over the last three years when it comes to the UFC space.”
“Volkanovski has been very active, and I do believe that he deserves to be the top fighter in the world, him and Islam. I think Volkanovski kept that title after a loss. He deserves it. He’s refreshing, he speaks well, his country loves him, he represents the sport well... I’m fighting to be the greatest fighter ever, not to be the pound-for-pound best right now. We have two different motivations, and I think there’s room for both of us at the top.”
The 35-year-old knows he is starting a new chapter of his career after becoming the youngest UFC champion back in 2011. “The MMA game is wild,” Jones said. “I have young men coming up to me and they’re like, ‘Dude, I started watching you when I was 10-years-old. Today I’m 22 years-old. I’ve been around for a long time, dude. I’ve got all these gray hairs in my beard. It’s wild.”
Jones has the record for most title fight wins in UFC history with 14 and the only loss of his career was by DQ. What kind of approach will he have in a new division against one of the best heavyweight stikers?
“I’m ready for whatever,” Jones said. “I’m ready to dominate. But if I don’t dominate and the fight goes five rounds, I’m ready to press forward, I’m ready for a dog fight, I’m ready to bleed and sweat and leave my heart out there. I’m ready for however it goes. I feel pretty prepared for victory.”
The former champion has long been accused by his critics of being a “cheater” as it pertains to testing positive for banned substances. He served a 15-month suspension after testing positive for turinabol in 2017. He was also suspended for 12 months in 2016 after testing positive for clomiphene and letrozole.
In 2019 The United Stated Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) implemented a new legal limit rule which would have cleared Jones in both cases. Jones was forced to relinquish his light heavyweight title on both occasions and spent several years trying to wipe away those blemishes.
Jones commented on the new rules and what that means to him now. "I feel set free. People considered me a cheater," Jones said.
"Now, if that same rule would have applied back then, it would have never even made the media. It would have never been a deal at all."
He went on to say, "Usada has changed some of the rules regarding picogram levels and what's allowed, and I've come to find out that all my findings were under the new legal limit, meaning I would have been cleared from every test I've ever taken," Jones said.
"My win over Daniel Cormier [in 2017] would not be a no-contest. It would be a knockout. A KO victory."
Jones vehemently denied being a cheater and will likely spend the rest of his career digging out of that hole, even though USADA believed he did not intentionally take banned substances.
"It was hell being considered a steroid cheat, and I'm glad that people can see clearly now that I never was, and I feel set free," Jones concluded.
Jones has key victories in his storied career over Alexander Gustafsson (twice), Ovince Saint Preux, Daniel Cormier, Glover Texeira, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida, Quinton Jackson, Mauricio Rua, Ryan Bader and Brandon Vera.
Gane is coming off a much-needed victory in his last fight where he defeated Tai Tuivasa by third round KO in September. The fight was one of the best fights of 2022 and for Gane it was coming off the heels of an unsuccessful title challenge at UFC 270.
The 32-year-old won the interim heavyweight belt at UFC 265 in 2021, but came up short against former champion Franciss Ngannou who has since vacated the title leaving an opening for Gane to try and win gold once again.
While there are many questions about Jones fighting at heavyweight, Gane believes he will bring new skills to the division. “I think he’s going to be okay,” Gane said. “He’s not a small guy, so he can add some weight on him. He worked on this for two, three years, and he’s an athlete.”
“In the heavyweight division, you see some guys are flat-footed, really slow, really fat, and I think he’s going to be better than that,” he added. “I think he’s going to jump into this division and be a good heavyweight.”
Gane thinks Jones will be good, but he believes he will be better. “I think I’m a better heavyweight than him because I move better than him, I’m faster than him,” said the Frenchman, who rebounded from his UFC 270 loss to Francis Ngannou with a third-round stoppage win over Tai Tuivasa at home in Paris in September. “I think I have an advantage because I’m from this division; this is where I started.
“I have more experience with this division, with this weight, so I have an advantage, but he has some advantages, too. He’s had a big career, so he has experience at a high level.”
The French Fighter is on a mission to win gold and at the end of the day it does not matter who he fights to achieve this goal. “I won the belt now, no matter who is the guy,” Gane said. “It’s going to mean a lot for me because he is the GOAT. Everyone knows that, because of his career. … If we win, it’s going to be something big for my career and something big for my life, for sure.”
Aside from Tuivasa, Gane has key victories over Derrick Lewis, Alexander Volkov, Jairzinho Rozenstruick and Junior Dos Santos. A win over Jones would be the biggest of his career and would shock the world as he not only enters the fight as the underdog, but will have defeated one of the greatest fighters of all-time.
The co-main event of the evening will be for the women’s flyweight title between dominant champion Valentina Shevchenko and #6 Alexa Grasso.
Shevchenko won the flyweight belt at UFC 231 in 2018 and has now defended the title seven times. Her last fight at UFC 275 was the toughest challenge she has faced since becoming champion, as she won a close split decision over Taila Santos.
The Russian fighter is business as usual heading into her eighth title defense. “I heard she mention, ‘Everyone has a weak point.’ Something like that. And she kind of will figure it out, where is this weak point,” Shevchenko said. “… I want to leave out my weak point, don’t forget about your weak point. Don’t forget about your fears. I know her fears. I know her weak point and I will use it in my game.”
While she is confident, Shevchenko does respect Grasso as a fighter. “She is very good in what she’s doing,” Shevchenko said. “That’s why she is a contender for this bout, which is my next title defense. Yeah, I took everything seriously about her. I know she’s good in her striking, but we can also not forget we’re fighting mixed martial arts. I prepared for everything as usual. Yeah, (I’ll) just be very attentive for the whole fight and be myself and do everything I have to do to win the fight.”
Shevchenko is largely considered the second best pound for pound women’s fighter in the world behind two-weight world champion Amanda Nunes, who has two victories over Shevchenko at bantamweight. Does Shevchenko believe there will be a third fight with Nunes?
“I do think I will move [back] up, yeah. I do think it’s going to happen someday,” Shevchenko said. “[A Nunes trilogy] is the only one reason why I should move up.”
She went on to say of a fight with Nunes, “This time, it has to go my way. No matter what,” she laughed. “I think will have to do everything that I have to do to win the fight because it’s kind of like what I expect from myself. I think that our second fight that we had, I don’t think I lost that fight, and I rewatched it several times. I still think it should go a different way.”
Shevchenko has wiped out the flyweight division and with a win over Grasso, a move back up to bantamweight to challenge Nunes seems inevitable. The two fights with Nunes were close battles with neither fighter seeming to have a convincing edge. How will a third fight go? Shevchenko must first not look beyond Grasso who is one of the better strikers in the flyweight division.
Grasso has won four straight fights and most recently defeated Viviane Araujo in October. The 29-year-old knows she is facing the toughest test of her career at UFC 285. “I’ve been watching her career for a long, long time, and I think this is the biggest challenge of my life,” Grasso said. “I can’t say that I’m the best striker if I haven’t faced someone like her. I’m truly happy and inspired for this fight. I know she’s tough, I know she’s dangerous in all areas, and this made me train tons. Like, a lot.
The 29-year-old explained how she prepared for the biggest fight of her life. “I was extreme with my discipline, I was extreme with my training, with my diet, with my conditioning. I was extreme in all areas and definitely, I’m a better athlete right now, and I can’t wait to prove that.”
History could be made for Grasso on Saturday by not only defeating one of the best female fighters of all-time, but also becoming the first female Mexican champion in UFC history. “As a competitor, I like challenges,” Grasso said. “Knowing all the things she just achieved, it gives you more motivation. If she’s done so much, and of course, she has a lot more years in the sport, but knowing the credentials she has, and to be able to win (against) someone like her, I think it’s a plus.”
The rest of the main card:
Welterweight - #7 Geoff Neal vs. #9 Shavkat Rakhmonov
Lightweight - #7 Mateusz Gamrot vs. #10 Jalin Turner
Middleweight - Bo Nickal vs. Jamie Pickett
ESPN + Prelims:
Bantamweight - Cody Garbrandt vs. Trevin Jones
Middleweight - #5 Derek Brunson vs. #10 Dricus du Plessis
Women's Flyweight - #8 Viviane Araújo vs. #9 Amanda Ribas
Middleweight - Julian Marquez vs. Marc-André Barriault
ESPN +/ UFC FIGHT PASS Early Prelims:
Welterweight - Ian Garry vs. Song Kenan
Bantamweight - Cameron Saaiman vs. Leomana Martinez
Women's Strawweight - Jessica Penne vs. Tabatha Ricci
Bantamweight - Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Farid Basharat
Lightweight - Esteban Ribovics vs. Loik Radzhabov
