Ryan Bader Believes Jon Jones ‘Takes Care of Business Pretty Easily’ at UFC 285

Ryan Bader knows what it takes to transition from 205 pounds to heavyweight.

The UFC veteran has enjoyed success with the move in Bellator MMA and is coming off his third successful heavyweight title defense, a first-round technical knockout of the retiring Fedor Emelianenko on Saturday night. Bader’s change in weight class didn’t have nearly the fanfare that will accompany Jon Jones’ heavyweight debut, which will occur against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 on March 4.

Bader, for one, expects Jones to handle the change in weight class quite well. The former Arizona State University All-American was a rising 205-pound prospect when he fell to Jones via second-round submission at UFC 126, a fight that would propel “Bones” to the title in his next Octagon appearance.

“I think he’s gonna do great,” Bader said of Jones’ heavyweight debut at the Bellator 290 post-fight press conference. “He actually hit me up when he was in Arizona to train a little bit. I was in camp and it didn’t make sense [at the time].

“I think it’s a great matchup for him too with his wrestling. I think he takes care of business pretty easily on that one.”

Jones will be competing for the first time in more than three years at UFC 285. His most recent appearance came at UFC 247, when he retained his light heavyweight belt with a closely-contested five-round verdict against Dominick Reyes. Jones vs. Gane will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with the vacant UFC heavyweight belt on the line.