Jon Jones Guillotines Ciryl Gane, Leaves UFC 285 as Heavyweight Champion

It was as if he had never left.

Jon Jones returned from a three-year sabbatical and laid claim to the vacant Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight crown, as he submitted Ciryl Gane with a guillotine choke in the first round of their UFC 285 headliner on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Gane (11-2, 8-2 UFC) raised the white flag of surrender 2:04 into Round 1.

Related » UFC 285 Round-by-Round Scoring

Jones (27-1, 21-1 UFC)—in his first appearance since Feb. 8, 2020—executed a takedown a little more than a minute into the bout, applied his ground-and-pound while climbing into a seated mount position and threaded the needle on the choke. Before Gane realized what was happening, his fate had been sealed.

Grasso Ends Shevchenko Reign

Alexa Grasso stunned the mixed martial arts world and captured the undisputed women’s strawweight championship, as she submitted Valentina Shevchenko with a face crank in the fourth round of their co-main event. Shevchenko (23-4, 12-3 UFC) bowed out 4:34 into Round 4, her reign atop the 125-pound weight class at an end after 1,547 days.

Grasso (16-3, 8-3 UFC) never looked intimidated by the moment, though she wandered into danger on more than one occasion. Shevchenko struck for takedowns in the second and third rounds, moved into dominant positions and piled up points with ground-and-pound. Grasso was unmoved. She countered an ill-advised spinning back kick from Shevchenko in Round 4 by immediately jumping to the back and securing herself with hooks. Soon after, Grasso’s arms were in place to author a career-defining upset, and her crushing squeeze proved to be too much for “Bullet” to overcome.

The setback was Shevchenko’s first since Sept. 9, 2017 and halted her nine-fight winning streak.

Rakhmonov Choke Vanquishes Neal

Surging Kill Cliff Fight Club standout Shavkat Rakhmonov took care of Geoff Neal with a standing rear-naked choke in the third round of their welterweight feature. The undefeated Rakhmonov (17-0, 5-0 UFC) slammed the door 4:17 into Round 3.

Neal (15-5, 7-3 UFC)—who missed weight for the match by four pounds—fought fire with fire for the better part of three rounds but ultimately ran out of steam in the face of an opponent who simply refused to go away. Rakhmonov opened a cut near the Fortis MMA rep’s left eye with a head kick in the first round and hammered away at the body with knees, punches and kicks with a sadistic glee. Neal connected with multi-punch bursts that might have felled lesser men; Rakhmonov ate most of them without issue. The former M-1 Global champion finally broke Neal in Round 3. He slammed a brutal right cross into his face, gave chase across the cage and followed up with a series of close-range knees to the body and elbows to the head. Rakhmonov then slipped behind his battered adversary and snuck his arms into place for the choke.

Rakhmonov, 28, has finished all 17 of his opponents.

Gamrot Slows Ascending Turner

Former two-division KSW champion Mateusz Gamrot rebounded from his Oct. 22 defeat to Beneil Dariush with a split decision over Jalin Turner in a three-round lightweight attraction. Judges Derek Cleary and Ron McCarthy scored it 29-28 and 30-27 for Gamrot, while David Lethaby saw it 29-28 for Turner.

Gamrot (22-2, 5-2 UFC) delivered takedowns in all three rounds and at times paired them with positional control and ground-and-pound. The 6-foot-3 Turner (13-6, 6-3 UFC) was superior in the standup exchanges and clipped the American Top Team rep with knees, right hooks and body kicks. Too often, however, he failed to maintain a safe distance, allowing the Polish grappler to get into takedown range and curb his momentum.

The loss snaped Turner’s five-fight winning streak.

Undefeated Nickal Throttles Pickett

American Top Team prospect Bo Nickal handled his business in his long-awaited Octagon debut, as the four-time NCAA All-American wrestler and three-time national champion submitted Jamie Pickett with an arm-triangle choke in the first round of their middleweight showcase. Pickett (13-9, 2-5 UFC) checked out 2:54 into Round 1.

Nickal (4-0, 1-0 UFC) closed the distance, established himself in the clinch and executed a takedown. He then progressed to the back, threatened with a rear-naked choke and settled in half guard before framing the arm-triangle. Nickal adjusted his grip on multiple occasions, tightened his squeeze and forced the tapout.

Pickett, 34, has lost three fights in a row.