Las Vegas: Jon Jones further cemented his status as the mixed martial arts GOAT as he choked out Ciryl Gane inside three minutes to win the heavyweight title at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at UFC 285.
With the historic win, ‘Bones’ has become just the second fighter in UFC history to have won both the light heavyweight and heavyweight championships in their career.
THE GREATEST. #UFC285 pic.twitter.com/4pZ7YLw9dF
— UFC (@ufc) March 5, 2023
Highlights
Jones was returning to the cage after three years on the sidelines during which he bulked up from light-heavyweight. He started the fight off with a low kick and Gane responded with one of his own, which hit Jones below the belt. After a brief pause in action and heavy booing from the Las Vegas crowd, Jones pressed forward and attacked the legs of Gane who was circling on the counter. The former king at 205 pounds got a hold of the Frenchman and dragged him to the canvas. Gane tried to break free but gave up his back whilst doing so. The situation further worsened for Gane as John got hold of his neck and quickly locked on a guillotine choke. Gane seemed to be ok but just moments later he tapped to the submission.
Jones took the opportunity to call Stipe Miocic out and the latter, widely regarded as the heavyweight GOAT, accepted the challenge seemingly setting the stage for a monumental main event in July.
Co-main event, other results
In the co-main event Alexa Grasso became the first Mexico-born woman ever to win a UFC title as she stunned Valentina Shevchenko with a 4th round submission to claim the flyweight title. It was otherwise a closely contested fight, however Shevchenko made one mistake that Grasso capitalized on by sinking in a rear-naked choke and submit the longstanding dominant champ.
In other fights, Shavkat Rakhmonov won his welterweight bout against Geoff Neal via a final round submission. Mateusz Gamrot outwrestled Jalin Turner to a split-decision victory. While, middleweight Bo Nickal dominated his UFC debut, submitting Jamie Pickett in the first round.
Bonus awards
Jon Jones, Alexa Grasso , Bo Nickal were handed out “Performance of the Night” bonuses of $50,000 each for their spactacular performances. Meanwhile, Shavkat Rakhmonov and Geoff Neal also won $50,000 apiece for “Fight of the Night”.
