UFC 285: Staff Picks: Jones vs. Gane

UFC 285 Main Card

• • Middleweight Bout: Bo Nickal (3-0) vs. Jamie Pickett (13-8)

• • Lightweight Bout: #7 Mateusz Gamrot (21-2) vs. #10 Jalin Turner (13-5)

• • Welterweight Bout: #7 Geoff Neal (15-4) vs. #9 Shavkat Rakhmonov (16-0)

• • Women’s Flyweight Title Bout: (C) Valentina Shevchenko (23-3) vs. #6 Alexa Grasso (15-3)

• • Vacant Heavyweight Title Bout: Jon Jones (26-1-1) vs. #1 Ciryl Gane (11-1)

UFC 285 is scheduled for March 4th, 2023 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 285 Co-Main Event: Shevchenko vs. Grasso

Tom Kowalsky: “Grasso is a boxing-heavy striker with competitive but not outstanding grappling. Grasso is one-dimensional, and against the force that is Shevchenko- I don’t expect Grasso to give us shades of Talia Suarez. Shevchenko by any way she wants- but I’ll say Dec as I think this stays standing and Shevchenko touches her up for all five rounds.” Shevchenko via. DEC

Justin Gibbons: “Honestly, I do not see Alexa Grasso beating Valentina Shevchenko anytime in the fight on Saturday. Shevchenko is on a whole different level and has been coasting to be one of the greatest females to ever step inside the Octagon. After the Taila Santos fight I feel like Shevchenko wants to prove that she simply had an off night and will come out against, Grasso and will put on a dominant performance.” Shevchenko via. TKO Round 2

Cooper Burke: “Valentina Schevchenko is the queen of the UFC, and this shouldn’t change. Against a high-level Mexican boxer like Grasso, Shevchenko needs to lean on her kicking game to stay ahead of someone tough like Grasso. Fortunately for Shevchenko, there is little threat of a finish coming her way on the feet- Grasso lacks the pop that would threaten Shevchenko. There should be plenty of dominant grappling from Shevchenko, and she can use this to her advantage and search for a ground-and-pound finish against a tough opponent. If she can’t get the fight to the ground, Grasso is likely to stick around until the final bell.” Shevchenko via. DEC

Austin Marr: “You can bring up some of Shevchenko’s lackluster performances such as against Taila Santos and Jennifer Maia, regardless Shevchenko is the better fighter all around, simply put. It’s that simple, outside of a ‘lucky punch’ from Grasso, this is Shevchenko’s fight to lose, even on an off-day. I’ve got Shevchenko in the mid-rounds with a TKO finish. With the win, it’s time for Shevchenko vs. Nunes 3.” Shevchenko via. TKO Round 3

UFC 285 Main Event: Jones vs. Gane

Tom Kowalsky: “This one is tough because of the vast amount of question marks, which is odd for a guy with 17 career title defenses. Jones always utilized his reach, IQ, and wrestling to outclass opponents. However being that the reach won’t be there, and he’ll be grappling with a true 250-pound heavyweight in Gane. Gane did get out grappled by Ngannou on one ACL, but he was likely not training his grappling much at all, and being within his first 10 years of the sport, leaves us to wonder how much that can improve in about a year. Add in that Gane commented about him being inherently lazy and preoccupied with other opportunities, he said he started training when the fight was announced- Jones didn’t believe it and neither do I. That being said, Jones’ grappling wasn’t able to do much with the now-defunct Dominick Reyes. I’m still going Jones on points because of fight IQ.” Jones via. DEC

Justin Gibbons: “I have to lock my main event pick in with Jon Jones. The man has done so many special things in his career and as a fan that has followed his ups and downs, I would love to see him capture another legendary accomplishment with a win at heavyweight. I do not feel his time away will affect him – it is all about his legacy and he wouldn’t have come back if he wasn’t ready. I feel we will see a powerful heavyweight out of Jones with keeping his light-heavyweight speed. Ciryl Gane is a tough opponent, no doubt about it, and it will be a great fight that we might be talking about for the ages.” Jones via. TKO Round 4

Cooper Burke: “It’s been a while since we have seen Jon Jones in the Octagon, but I expect ring rust to be a nonfactor in one of the greatest fighters of all time. Since Gane is a poor grappler, Jones can easily lean on the elite wrestling that got him to the top of the UFC and take the fight to one of the heavyweight division’s best strikers. This will lead to a smothering fight from Jones, and it will be up to his cardio to see if he stays in the fight. Striking on the break should be important, and if Jones manages to stay on top of it, it should be his fight to lose- this is where Gane excels, sometimes with shots to the back of the head. Jones should go hunting for a finish later in the fight as Gane gasses out, and return to the top of the UFC.” Jones via. TKO Round 4

Austin Marr: “I love the matchup, Gane is the perfect test but my biggest concern for the returning Jones is the three-year layoff but the more I think about it, I don’t think it’s going to bother Jones very much. Jones has over double the MMA experience of Gane. Jones’s entire UFC career transcends Gane’s MMA career, and outside of a DQ due to illegal strikes against Matt Hamill and a No Contest against Daniel Cormier, his record is unblemished (more on that later). Gane is a fantastic striker but so is Jones, the grappling is what separates the two, especially after looking back on Gane vs. Ngannou. This is Jon “Bones” Jones we’re talking about, the same man who torched through Bader, Shogun, Rampage, Machida, Evans, Belfort, Sonnen, Gustafsson (twice), Cormier, etc. sure he had his lackluster performances (Reyes and Santos) but that was his most recent two fights. I honestly believe he lost his fire and I don’t think Jones returns Saturday unless he had that fire in his belly back and is ultra-prepared, and he’s only 35! “Bones” is a bad, bad man when he’s on and I think he’s on Saturday night.” Jones via. SUB Round 4

UFC 285 Main Card Picks

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