Shock! The long-time queen has fallen, but the king of MMA is back. Jones defeated Gane. How did UFC 285 go? See all the finishes

UFC 285 was an exceptional tournament. If only for the return of a legend. Jon Jones was back in action after three years, and at heavyweight. In addition, women’s MMA icon Valentina Shevchenko defended her belt. What did the tournament look like?

Early Prelims

Already the first of the three cards of the UFC 285 tournament offered interesting fights and, most importantly, some interesting names. One even familiar to fans of the Octagon. The second fight of the night featured Farid Basharat, who was supposed to fight Filip Mack for the title in the Octagon.

Basharat was challenged by Da’Mon Blackshear and was no match for his rival in the three-round battle. It should be mentioned, however, that Basharat definitely did not take the fight without a problem. He was saved by the final bell at the end of the third round.

But now, first things first. The gala started with Esteban Ribovics and Loik Radzhabov, which ended on points. We saw the first early finish in the third fight of the night.

Jessica Penne and Tabatha Ricci faced each other in the cage and the latter was the winner after a beautifully executed second round submission.

The next bout was dominated on points by Cameron Saaiman, who took on Mana Martinez. Then Irish fighter Ian Machado Garry went into action and had a fantastic duel with Song Kenan.

The two fighters did not give anything away, we saw some hard fights and we saw the finish. In the third round at 4:22 the Irishman managed to control the fight before the limit.

THE FUTURE GOES 11-0 WITH THE KO!

🇮🇪 @IanGarryMMA is an absolute PHENOM! #UFC285 pic.

– UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) March 5, 2023

Prelims

The middle portion of UFC 285 also offered some interesting contests. First, Julian Marquez and Marc-Andre Barriault faced off, and right away we saw an early second-round stoppage in this showdown of strength.

Barriault ran over his opponent, who gave the referee no choice but to end the fight.

POWERBAR NEVER HIT EMPTY! 🔋

🇨🇦 @PowerBarriault‘s cardio proves to be king as he relentlessly puts it on Marquez for the finish! #UFC285 pic.

– UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) March 5, 2023

Two beauties were subsequently introduced to the cage. Viviane Araújo and Amanda Ribas. It was expected to be an evenly matched battle that could propel the winner into the top ten of the rankings. And Ribas most likely did, dominating the fight by unanimous points.

Great form was subsequently shown by Dricus Du Plessis, who faced Derek Brunson. After taking on Darren Till, he also finished the aforementioned Brunson before the limit. Moreover, in the second round in 4:59. The match was ended by Brunson’s corner throwing in the towel.

The last match of the UFC 285 prelims card catered to Cody Garbrandt and Trevin Jones and as expected, the former scored the win on points.

Main Card

The main card of UFC 285 opened with the Bo Nickal vs. Jamie Pickett bout. While the former seems like a new rising star, he only had three fights under his belt, while Pickett already had 21 fights under his belt.

In the match, however, that experience difference didn’t show. Or rather, it looked as if the fighters had opposite scores. Nickal, in fact, performed admirably, quickly getting into a very good position and gradually tightening the neck of his opponent, who eventually had to tap out in the first round.

As short and one-sided as the first round was, the second round was evenly matched and also ended on points. Mateusz Gamrot, as the seventh lightweight, took on the tenth ranked Jalin Turner. And he had his work cut out for him. In a risky fight, however, he won on a split decision and the Polish fighter could breathe a big sigh of relief after a tough win.

A fantastic fight between Geoff Neal and Shavkat Rakhmonov followed. Rakhmonov went into the fight with a record of 16-0 and the fact that never in his life has his fight ended on points. However, Neal, the welterweight number seven, resisted for a long time and did not give up easily.

Rakhmonov, as a welterweight number nine, took some hard shots throughout the fight that he had to recover from himself. However, he showed why he is seen as a giant prospect and deservedly won when he put Neal in a standing choke during the last minute of the third round.

Neal and Rakhmonov most likely provided the best fight of the night. In addition, the Kazakh probably asked to move into the top 5 welterweights, or at least close to it.

Sensational! Valentina Shevchenko lost her belt

Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso secured the first of the title fights. Shevchenko entered the bout as one of the biggest legends in women’s MMA, she has ruled the flyweight division since 2018, only now her reign is over.

Grasso entered the bout without any over the top respect. She’s prepared brilliantly. Tactically and fitness-wise. Of course, Shevchenko looked more complex and mature in the match, but the Mexican fighter was hitting very well in places, waiting for the long-time queen to make a mistake. And she did.

She waited until the fourth round, though, when Shevchenko allowed her to get to her back and set up a rear-naked choke. The Kyrgyzstan fighter had to tap out.

Grasso is the first Mexican champion in UFC history and she took care of one of the biggest sensations in the history of the organization.

Shevchenko lost for the first time in her career on a submission, while Grasso won for only the second time in her career on a submission.

The king is back!

The best fighter of all time confirmed his reputation. He returned to action after three years, moreover, after leaving the welterweight division he headed to the heavyweight division and was immediately faced by Ciryl Gane.

But Jon Jones was not afraid of anything and left no one in doubt. The Frenchman did surprise him with a kick to the groin right from the start, but then the one-sided and fast-paced show began.

The legendary slugger took his opponent to the ground and after two minutes and four seconds it was all over when Jones forced Gane to tap out.

So Jones wasn’t too keen on the win and can now look forward to another fight and another title defense. After all, he is the heavyweight king and should be challenged by the legendary Stipe Miocic in his next fight.

Source: UFC, Sherdog, Twitter