LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jon Jones ended a three-year sabbatical from the UFC, moving up to the top weight division and leaving no doubt about his place in the history of the sport on Saturday night.
Jones, 35, who is already widely regarded as the greatest UFC fighter, brought down Ciryl Gane a little over a minute into the first round to win with a guillotine choke at 2:04 in UFC 285.
“I’m so excited,” Jones said. “I’ve been working for this for a long time. A people thought I wouldn’t come back. I stayed true to my goal, true to my mission.”
As short as the fight was, Jones took his time entering the octagon and played against a sell-out crowd of 19,471. UFC President Dana White said the gate was $12.5 million, the highest for a heavyweight match and the fourth-highest ever.
This was Jones’ first fight in three years and his first heavyweight. The former light heavyweight champion said it was important to reassure himself that he deserved the honor of being the greatest of all time.
With another GOAT, Tom Brady, sitting nearby, Jones did just that. Brady flew in from Florida on the day of the fight and spent time with Jones’ brother, Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Chandler Jones.
“[Jones is]a total freak of nature,” White said, “and he’s the best of all time.”
There were questions as to whether so much free time would affect Jones’s effectiveness, and he spent time at his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, preparing for that night. His last fight was February 8, 2020, a unanimous decision over Dominick Reyes.
Jones didn’t look the same as he did before the break, and he admitted the extra weight he gained reduced his muscle tone. All along, however, Jones insisted that looks were deceiving.
He backed up his words.
“Ciryl Gane is a monster,” White said. “Jon Jones showed up and treated him like a kid.”
Jones believed that the preparation time for that night would show that the weight gain had paid off. He hired a team in Albuquerque to get him in optimal shape.
“I had to come up and get (Gane) down,” Jones said. “I’ve been wrestling since I was 12 years old. I feel stronger than ever. As soon as I got my hands on it, I knew I could take control.”
The win extended Jones’ unbeaten streak to 19 straight and he improved to 27-1 with a no-contest. He won a record 14 light heavyweight title fights.
Jones said he wanted Stipe Miocic next, the second-place contender and whom Jones called the greatest heavyweight of all time. White said the fight will take place but didn’t know when it would take place.
32-year-old Frenchman Gane was the heavyweight leader. He fell to 11-2.
“It’s so painful,” Gane said. “This is a lost victory. So that’s over for now, and mostly for what I see in the future. I’m going straight back to the gym.”
In the co-main event of a women’s match, Alexa Grasso (16-3) of Mexico, who finished sixth, handed champion Valentina Shevchenko (23-4) of Kyrgyzstan by 4:34 in the fourth round to capture the belt. Grasso became the third Mexican champion.
“I feel like this is a dream,” said Grasso. “I dreamed of this moment.”
Shevchenko, 34, had won her last eight title fights and controlled that one over three rounds, dictating action and repeatedly taking down Grasso.
However, Grasso brought Shevchenko to the mat late in the fourth when the now-former champion caught a rebound. Then Grasso, 29, put Shevchenko in a position where she was forced to step out.
Shevchenko said she wanted a rematch, but White wasn’t sure if that would happen.
27-year-old middleweight Bo Nickal won his UFC debut, submitting Jamie Pickett, 34, via arm triangle at 2:54 of the first round. Nickal won three NCAA wrestling championships at Penn State. He drew to 4-0 overall; Pickett is 13-9.
Scenes from the remake of the 1989 film Road House were shot between action scenes in the octagon, with actor Jake Gyllenhaal playing an MMA fighter.
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