Jon Jones is your new UFC heavyweight champion and adds to his case for being the greatest fighter in mixed martial arts history. Jones locked in a guillotine choke on Ciryl Gane in the opening round of their main event bout at UFC 285 to force the tap and earn the title.
"I was faithful to the goal. I was faithful to the mission," Jones told UFC commentator Joe Rogan post-fight. "There were days that I didn't want to be there."
Jones absorbed only one strike in the whole fight and it was an illegal kick to the groin. Jones did not miss a beat despite a three-year absence from the sport. Pundits proclaimed that Jones' clearest path was wrestling his opponent and the champ agreed. Jones cornered Gane, secured an early takedown and locked up a guillotine choke against the fence. It was a short, flawless and somewhat anti-climatic performance that lasted only two minutes and four seconds.
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Jones subsequently called out former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, adding fuel to Miocic's statement earlier this week that he'd fight the winner at UFC 290 on July 8 for UFC International Fight Week.
"Oh yeah, baby! You want to see me beat Stipe?" Jones asked the crowd. "The one thing I know about the UFC is we give the fans what they want to see. Stipe Miocic, I hope you're training, my guy. You're the greatest heavyweight of all time. That's what I want. I want you, real bad."
"Good for him," Miocic told UFC broadcaster Megan Olivia backstage. "Yay, he won. I'll see him in July. Nothing has changed. I'm going to train my ass off and beat his ass."
Many of the questions surrounding Jones' return -- how well would he shake off ring rust and would the additional weight affect his movement -- largely remain. For Gane's part, there were concerns over the quality of his defensive grappling after being taken down repeatedly by Francis Ngannou in their fight last year. Ultimately, Jones exceeded expectations and Gane proved critics right in the worst way possible.
"This is the first real loss I have. The loss to Francis was not a big loss for me. This one is so painful," Gane told reporters at the UFC 285 post-fight press conference. "So now, this is the past and I must go forward to see the future. I'm going to go straight back to the gym."
Jones joins an exclusive list of fighters to capture UFC titles in two divisions alongside Randy Couture, BJ Penn, Conor McGregor, Georges St-Pierre, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Henry Cejudo.
Meanwhile, Alexa Grasso shocked the world by submitting Valentina Shevchenko in Round 4 to claim the women's flyweight title. The win ended the longest active title reign in the promotion and sent shockwaves through the 125-pound division. Grasso also joined Brandon Moreno and Yair Rodriguez as the third Mexican champion in promotional history.
But even those two weren't the only impressive performances on Saturday night. Shavkat Rakhmonov continued to do Shavkat Rakhmonov things with a late submission of Geoff Neal. Matuesz Gamrot grinded out a decision over a game Jalin Turner at lightweight. And Bo Nickal made a very successful debut in the UFC with a first-round submission of Jamie Pickett to open the PPV.
CBS Sports was with you the entire way on Saturday bringing you all the results and highlights from the UFC 285 below.
UFC 285 card and results
- Jon Jones (c) def. Ciryl Gane via first-round submission (guillotine choke)
- Alexa Grasso def. Valentina Shevchenko (c) via fourth-round submission (rear-naked choke)
- Shavkat Rakhmonov def. Geoff Neal via third-round submission (standing bulldog choke)
- Matuesz Gamrot def. Jalin Turner via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
- Bo Nickal def. Jamie Pickett via first-round submission (head and arm choke)
- Cody Garbrandt def. Trevin Jones via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Dricus du Plessis def. Derek Brunson via second-round TKO (punches)
- Amanda Ribas def. Viviane Araujo via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-27)
- Marc-Andre Barriault def. Julian Marquez via second-round TKO (punches)
- Ian Garry def. Song Kenan via third-round TKO (punches)
- Cameron Saaiman def. Mana Martinez via majority decision (29-26, 29-27, 28-28)
- Tabatha Ricci def. Jessica Penne via second-round submission (armbar)
- Farid Basharat def. Da'mon Blackshear via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Loik Radzhabov def. Esteban Ribovics via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
