Tag: UFC 285

Twitter reacts to Jon Jones’ dominant vacant title win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285

The MMA community reacted to Jon Jones’ successful UFC return to claim heavyweight gold against Ciryl Gane in the UFC 285 main event.

[autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] returned from a more than three-year layoff at UFC 285 on Saturday and further solidified his greatness in the sport by claiming the vacant heavyweight title against [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag].

Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC), a former longtime light heavyweight titleholder, was successful in his long-awaited move up a division when he earned a first-round submission victory over Gane (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) in the pay-per-view headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

With the win, “Bones” became the eighth fighter in UFC history to win titles in two divisions, and arguably locked up his place as the best in MMA history.

Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Jones’ title-winning performance against Gane at UFC 285.

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UFC 285 results: Jon Jones makes quick work of Ciryl Gane for heavyweight title after three years away

After three years out, Jon Jones only needed two minutes to submit Ciryl Gane and become UFC heavyweight champion at UFC 285.

It was more than three years between appearances for [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] when he stepped in the cage Saturday at UFC 285 in Las Vegas.

Despite all of the anticipation and build, the highly anticipated return only lasted 2:04, as Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) submitted Ciryl Gane (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) with a guillotine choke in Round 1 to become the UFC heavyweight champion. The vacant title bout was the main event at T-Mobile Arena.

Jones, 35, walked into a thunderously supportive arena to his vintage “The Champ is Here” walkout song by Jadakiss. A one-armed cartwheel into the cage followed, just like old times.

The bout began with a touch of gloves and a feeling out process ensued. Jones went directly at Gane and eventually ducked under a left punch. Jones shot for a takedown, which he secured. Gane briefly rose up, but Jones dumped him again and sprung right into mount. Immediately, Jones grabbed hold of Gane’s neck. After a few adjustments, a tap quickly came.

After the fight, UFC commentator Joe Rogan brought up a potential matchup against Stipe Miocic at International Fight Week in July, which Jones said he’ll gladly accept.

“Oh yeah, baby,” Jones said. “Y’all want to see me beat up Stipe? 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.”

Up-to-the-minute UFC 285 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.

UFC 285 discussion thread

UFC 285 takes place Saturday in Las Vegas, and you can discuss the event here.

LAS VEGAS – MMA Junkie is on scene and reporting live from Saturday’s UFC 285 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, which kicks off at 5:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. PT). You can discuss the event here.

Be sure to follow along with the latest card updates in our UFC 285 live results post, and then discuss the event in the comments section below.

Round-by-round updates and official results begin at approximately 5:3- p.m. ET for the preliminary card and 10 p.m. ET for the main card.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.

UFC 285 play-by-play and live results

Get live play-by-play and official results from Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane and Valentina Shevchenko vs. Alexa Grasso at UFC 285 in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – UFC 285 takes place Saturday, and you can join us for live play-by-play and official results.

UFC 285 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.

In the main event, former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) and Ciryl Gane (11-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) meet for the vacant heavyweight title. In the co-feature, dominant women’s flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko (23-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) meets challenger Alexa Grasso (15-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC).

Follow along with our round-by-round updates and official results beginning at approximately 5:30 p.m. ET for the early prelims on ESPN+, 8 p.m. for the prelims on ESPNews and 10 p.m. ET for the main card on pay-per-view.

To discuss the show, be sure to check out our UFC 285 discussion thread. You can also get behind-the-scenes coverage and other event notes from on-site reporters Mike Bohn (@MikeBohn ) and Ken Hathaway (@kenshathaway ) on Twitter.

Enjoy the fights, everyone.

UFC 285 results: Alexa Grasso makes Valentina Shevchenko tap out, wins flyweight title in huge upset

Alexa Grasso shocked the world by submitting Valentina Shevchenko in the fourth round of a closely contested title fight at UFC 285.

The belief heading into UFC 285 was that [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] would need to fight a perfect fight to defeat [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag]. Who knew that also applied to the champion?

In a closely contested fight, Shevchenko made one mistake that Grasso capitalized on by sinking in a rear-naked choke for a fourth-round submission win to claim the women’s flyweight from the longstanding dominant champ at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The stunning outcome makes Grasso the first Mexico-born woman ever to win a UFC title (she was the first to compete for one) as she becomes the third newly crowned Mexican champion of 2023.

“Please pinch me, because I feel like I’m dreaming,” Grasso told Joe Rogan during her post-fight octagon interview.

Through three rounds, Grasso (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) had a moral victory of sorts as her boxing served as a wake-up call to Shevchenko (23-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC) early, which made the champ resort to takedowns and grappling that likely had her winning two of the first three frames.

Then came the moment in Round 4. After they spent most of the round standing and exchanging jabs, Shevchenko threw a spinning back kick in the final minute that missed, which allowed Grasso to immediately jump on her back and take the fight to the mat.

From there, Grasso worked hard for the finish until she got it by sinking in the choke and forcing Shevchenko to tap out with 26 seconds left in the fourth. Grasso indicated the finish was no accident.

“I train for that thing,” said Grasso, a former strawweight who is 5-0 as a flyweight. “It was training. I train every single day that thing, because I knew she did those spinning things. … I trained so, so hard like I never have before in my life.”

The result halted Shevchenko’s dominant championship run at seven consecutive title defenses, and it was her first loss at flyweight since she dropped down from bantamweight in 2018.

Shevchenko made her intentions clear afterward.

“Definitely immediate rematch,” she said, “because I know I was winning the fight.”

Up-to-the-minute UFC 285 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.

Alexa Grasso def. Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 285: Best photos

Check out the best photos from Alexa Grasso’s submission win over Valentina Shevchenko to win the women’s flyweight title at UFC 285.

Check out the best photos from [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag]’s fourth-round submission win over [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] to win the women’s flyweight title at UFC 285 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. (Photos by The Associated Press and Getty Images)

Twitter reacts to Alexa Grasso’s upset of Valentina Shevchenko to win title at UFC 285

The MMA community was in disbelief as Alexa Grasso shocked the world to dethrone Valentina Shevchenko of UFC gold at UFC 285.

[autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] shocked the world at UFC 285 on Saturday when she brought [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag]’s historic women’s flyweight title reign to an end.

Grasso (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) became just the third fighter to hold the 125-pound belt when she upset Shevchenko (23-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC) by fourth-round submission in the pay-per-view co-headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Grasso’s title-winning victory over Shevchenko at UFC 285.

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UFC 285 results: Shavkat Rakhmonov strangles Geoff Neal standing to end back-and-forth slugfest

An all-out slugfest between Shavkat Rakhmonov and Geoff Neal at UFC 285 ended with a submission.

[autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag] and [autotag]Geoff Neal[/autotag] went blow-for-blow and toe-to-toe at UFC 285, but ultimately a standing submission ended the slugfest.

To conclude a back-and-forth battle that saw both men stunned, Rakhmonov (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) submitted Neal (15-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) with a standing rear-naked choke at the 4:17 mark of Round 3. The catchweight bout (Neal missed the welterweight limit) was part of the main card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

In the opening round, Rakhmonov and Neal both landed damaging shots. For Rakhmonov, a clattering head kick caused Neal to back pedal. Later in the round, Neal landed a hard punching combination.

Despite Neal’s miss on the scales, Rakhmonov appeared to be the visibly bigger fighter. Rakhmonov kept his hands low as he dipped and dodged. Rakhmonov continued to land with better quality and quantity. Neal remained dangerous and landed punishing boxing combinations.

In Round 3, Neal was bloodied and tired but continued to slug it out with Rakhmonov, much to the delight of a packed Las Vegas crowd that included celebrities like Tom Brady, Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Wahlberg.

Rakhmonov tied Neal up and then threw an onslaught attack of his own. Knees to the body nearly folded up Neal but he remained on his feet. Rakhmonov switched to the back in the clinch and snatched Neal’s neck. Neal tried to fight the choke, which didn’t have hooks in, but his consciousness faded as Rakhmonov squeezed. Neal tapped before he crumpled to the canvas.

With the win, Rakhmonov remains undefeated and racks up his fifth UFC victory. With the loss, Neal’s two-fight winning streak ends.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 285 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.

UFC 285 results: Bo Nickal chokes out Jamie Pickett in first round to win debut

Bo Nickal has officially arrived in the UFC.

One of the most highly touted prospects in UFC history has his first promotional victory under his belt.

On Saturday, former Penn State University wrestling standout [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] (4-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) defeated [autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag] (13-9 MMA, 2-5 UFC) by submission at 2:54 of Round 1. The middleweight bout opened up the UFC 285 main card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Nickal, 27, dragged the fight to the canvas in the opening seconds. For the fight’s remainder, Nickal sought a submission until he found it. Pickett tried to defend an arm-triangle choke but eventually Nickal made the minor adjustments necessary to tap him out.

The fight was more in-cage time (2:54) for Nickal than all of his previous professional fights combined (2:27). Nickal trucked CFFC champion Donovan Beard en route to a 52-second, UFC contract-earning submission at Dana White’s Contender Series in September.

Spotlighted long before his MMA career kicked off, Nickal was a three-time Division I national wrestling champion and three-time Big Ten conference champion for Penn State. He won a national championship and an under-23 world championship, both in 2019 in the 92kg (202.8-pound) weight class. He finished college with a 120-3 record, including a combined 61-0 record in his junior and senior years.

In 2019, Nickal earned the 2019 Dan Hodge Trophy, an accolade awarded to the nation’s best wrestler. He also twice won the Schalles Award, an honor given to the nation’s best pinner. In addition, he was named 2019 Big Ten Athlete of the Year.

Nickal is a blue belt in jiu-jitsu and trains at American Top Team in South Florida.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 285 results include:

UFC 285 results: Cody Garbrandt practices patience in unanimous decision win over Trevin Jones

Forgive Cody Garbrandt for not wanting to engage in a firefight with Trevin Jones at UFC 285, but it worked.

Forgive [autotag]Cody Garbrandt[/autotag] for not wanting to engage in a firefight with [autotag]Trevin Jones[/autotag]. All the former UFC bantamweight champion was looking for was a win.

Patience was the name of the game for Garbrandt (13-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) on Saturday night at 285 as he took a smart approach to earn a unanimous decision win over Jones (13-10 MMA, 1-4 UFC), who performed as though the moment was too big for him. All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Garbrandt.

The bantamweight bout closed out the UFC 285 preliminary card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

It was a much-needed victory for Garbrandt, who’s been reeling ever since losing the 135-pound title to rival T.J. Dillashaw five-and-half years ago at UFC 217.

Garbrandt, coming off the longest layoff of his career at 488 days, hadn’t competed since a December 2021 TKO loss to Kai Kara-France at UFC 269, the fourth time he’d been knocked out in his previous six bouts, so throwing caution to the wind against Jones wasn’t what he aimed to do. That much was clear early on.

In Round 1, Garbrandt started out landing hard kicks to the body. He had the crowd behind him as chants of “Cody! Cody! Cody!” rang out in the early going. Garbrandt looked comfortable in the cage despite his long layoff, landing more frequently and effectively in the first five minutes. The surprise was Jones’ hesitance to pressure Garbrandt, something he said he would do in the lead up.

The same tempo continued in Round 2 until Garbrant perfectly timed a takedown. Jones briefly caught him in a guillotine choke attempt, but Garbrandt quickly popped hi head out. Garbrandt worked to Jones’ back and at one point sunk in a rear-naked choke, but Jones was able to fend it off. It was another round that clearly went to Garbrandt.

Garbrandt seemed to hit cruise control in the third round, which put him in a little bit of trouble when Jones landed his best punch of the fight, a hard right hand, that stunned his opponent. Still, it was too little too late for Jones, who lost his fourth fight in a row.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 285 results include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.