UFC 285 predictions: Jones or Gane, Shevchenko or Grasso in title fights?

Check out our picks for the UFC 285 main card, including Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane and Valentina Shevchenko vs. Alexa Grasso title fights.

Jones
vs.
Gane
Shevchenko
vs.
Grasso
Neal
vs.
Rakhmonov
Gamrot
vs.
Turner
Nickal
vs.
Pickett
MMA Junkie readers’
consensus picks
19-13
jones2023
Jones
(68%)
shevchenko2023
Shevchenko
(87%)
rakhmonov2023
Rakhmonov
(85%)
gamrot2023
Gamrot
(64%)
nickal2023
Nickal
(90%)
Matthew Wells
@MrMWells
24-11
jones2023
Jones
shevchenko2023
Shevchenko
neal2023
Neal
turner2023
Turner
nickal2023
Nickal
George Garcia
@MMAjunkieGeorge
24-11
gane2023
Gane
shevchenko2023
Shevchenko
rakhmonov2023
Rakhmonov
gamrot2023
Gamrot
nickal2023
Nickal
Nolan King
@mma_kings
22-13/em>
jones2023
Jones
shevchenko2023
Shevchenko
rakhmonov2023
Rakhmonov
gamrot2023
Gamrot
nickal2023
Nickal
Ken Hathaway
@kenshathaway
22-13
trophy copy 2018, 2022 Champion
jones2023
Jones
shevchenko2023
Shevchenko
rakhmonov2023
Rakhmonov
turner2023
Turner
nickal2023
Nickal
Matt Erickson
22-13
gane2023
Gane
grasso2023
Grasso
rakhmonov2023
Rakhmonov
gamrot2023
Gamrot
nickal2023
Nickal
Farah Hannoun
@Farah_Hannoun
21-14
gane2023
Gane
shevchenko2023
Shevchenko
rakhmonov2023
Rakhmonov
gamrot2023
Gamrot
nickal2023
Nickal
Danny Segura
@dannyseguratv
21-14
gane2023
Gane
shevchenko2023
Shevchenko
rakhmonov2023
Rakhmonov
gamrot2023
Gamrot
nickal2023
Nickal
Simon Samano
@SJSamano
21-14
gane2023
Gane
shevchenko2023
Shevchenko
rakhmonov2023
Rakhmonov
gamrot2023
Gamrot
nickal2023
Nickal
Abbey Subhan
@kammakaze
20-15
jones2023
Jones
shevchenko2023
Shevchenko
rakhmonov2023
Rakhmonov
turner2023
Turner
nickal2023
Nickal
Mike Bohn
@MikeBohn
19-16
trophy copy 2014 Champion
jones2023
Jones
shevchenko2023
Shevchenko
rakhmonov2023
Rakhmonov
gamrot2023
Gamrot
nickal2023
Nickal
Brian Garcia
@thegoze
19-16
trophy copy 2017 Champion
gane2023
Gane
shevchenko2023
Shevchenko
rakhmonov2023
Rakhmonov
gamrot2023
Gamrot
nickal2023
Nickal

The UFC stays home in Las Vegas this week, but shifts to a big venue with a pair of title fights atop the bill.

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

(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)

In the main event, former longtime light heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) takes on [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] (11-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) for the vacant heavyweight title, which became available when Francis Ngannou and the promotion parted ways earlier this year. Jones will fight for the first time in more than three years and will be making his debut at heavyweight.

Jones is slight favorite at -170 at Tipico Sportsbook; the comeback on Gane is +145. But our 11 editors, writers, radio hosts and videographers slight underdog Gane with the narrowest possible edge at 6-5.

In the co-feature, dominant women’s flyweight champ [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] (23-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) puts her title on the line against [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] (15-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC). Shevchenko is a huge favorite of more than 7-1, but she’s not a unanimous pick. One of our pickers is taking Grasso in a major upset.

Also on the main card, [autotag]Geoff Neal[/autotag] (15-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) finds himself a big underdog against unbeaten welterweight [autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag] (16-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC), who is more than a 5-1 favorite. Rakhmonov has a whopping 10-1 picks lead.

[autotag]Mateusz Gamrot[/autotag] (21-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) is more than a 2-1 favorite in his lightweight bout against [autotag]Jalin Turner[/autotag] (13-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC), and he has a big 8-3 lead from our staff members.

And to open the main card, [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] (3-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is a favorite of historic proportions at 19-1 in his middleweight fight against [autotag]Jamie Pickett[/autotag] (13-8 MMA, 2-4 UFC). Nickal, a highly touted wrestling standout, will make his UFC debut.

In the MMA Junkie consensus picks, Jones (68 percent), Shevchenko (87 percent), Rakhmonov (85 percent), 64 percent) and Nickal (90 percent) are the choices.

Check out all the picks above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 220.

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