LAS VEGAS – MMA Junkie was on scene and reporting live from Friday’s official UFC 285 fighter weigh-ins, where two fighters missed their marks.
The title fights are set, though, at the top of the bill. Former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) and Ciryl Gane (11-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) meet in the main event for the vacant heavyweight title.
Gane, a former interim heavyweight champ, was the first of the two to come to the scale and was 247.5 pounds. Jones came not long after that and was 248 for his first fight at heavyweight.
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). Grasso was the first fighter to the scale in the two-hour window and was 124.5 pounds. Shevchenko was right behind her and weighed the same.
Mana Martinez (10-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) missed the bantamweight limit for his fight against Cameron Saaiman (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC). He came in at 137 pounds and will be fined 30 percent of his purse.
And Geoff Neal (15-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) missed weight by four pounds for his welterweight fight on the main card against the unbeaten Shavkat Rakhmonov (16-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC). He’ll be fined 30 percent of his purse, as well.
The early weigh-ins took place at the UFC host hotel in Las Vegas and preceded the ceremonial weigh-ins for the fans, which take place at 7 p.m. ET at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The nearby T-Mobile Arena hosts Saturday’s event, which has a main card on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.
The full UFC 285 weigh-in results included:
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Jon Jones (248) vs. Ciryl Gane (247.5) – for vacant heavyweight title
- Champ Valentina Shevchenko (124.5) vs. Alexa Grasso (124.5) – for women’s flyweight title
- Geoff Neal (175)* vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov (171)
- Mateusz Gamrot (156) vs. Jalin Turner (155.5)
- Bo Nickal (185.5) vs. Jamie Pickett (186)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPNews, 8 p.m. ET)
- Cody Garbrandt (136) vs. Trevin Jones (135)
- Derek Brunson (185.5) vs. Dricus Du Plessis(185)</li>
- Viviane Araujo (126) vs. Amanda Ribas (126)
- Marc-Andre Barriault (185) vs. Julian Marquez (186)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
- Ian Garry (171) vs. Song Kenan (171)
- Mana Martinez (137)** vs. Cameron Saaiman (135)
- Jessica Penne (116) vs. Tabatha Ricci (115.5)
- Farid Basharat (136) vs. Da’Mon Blackshear (136)
- Loik Radzhabov (155.5) vs. Esteban Ribovics (156)
*Neal missed the welterweight limit and will be fined 30 percent of his purse.
**Martinez missed the bantamweight limit and will be fined 30 percent of his purse.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.