Jon Jones became a two-weight UFC champion by tapping out Ciryl Gane in just over two minutes to win the heavyweight title.
Jones, 35, was returning to the cage after spending three years on the sidelines, during which he bulked up to 248lb from light-heavyweight. Former interim titleholder Gane, 32, was challenging for the undisputed title for the second time in three fights having previously been outpointed by Francis Ngannou last year.
As the fight got underway, Jones landed a hard low kick before there was a brief half in the action as Gane caught Jones in the groin with a kick of his own. Upon the resumption, Jones pressed forward and attacked Gane's legs as the Frenchman circled on the counter. Jones scored his first takedown of the fight by dragging Gane to the canvas and taking his back as his rival battled in vain to break free.
Gane tried to escape from the bad position he found himself in but gave up his neck whilst doing so, with Jones wasting no time by locking on a guillotine choke. Gane initially appeared to be comfortable in the position, but moments later he tapped to the submission and Jones was crowned the victor.
"First and foremost, I want to give thanks to my lord and saviour Jesus Christ. All you prayer warriors out there, I felt you all week. I want to thank all of you that prayed for me," Jones said after the fight. “I’ve been working for this for such a long time, but I’ve been faithful to my goal. I’ve been faithful to the mission.
"I want to thank my family, teammates and coaches. There were days that I didn’t want to train but I was always there. I knew if I got him down to the ground that the fight would be in my area as I’ve been wrestling since I was 12 years old and I feel stronger and most comfortable on the ground. I actually felt a little bit goofy on the feet as it's been while, but once I got my hands on him then I could take control."
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Jones is expected to make former champion Stipe Miocic in his first title defence and he called out Miocic by saying: "I hope you're training, my guy. You're the greatest heavyweight of all-time, and that's what I want. I want you, real bad." Miocic hasn't fought since losing his heavyweight title when he was knocked out by Ngannou two years ago.
In the co-main event of UFC 285, sixth-ranked Alexa Grasso pulled off a stunning upset by tapping out champion Valentina Shevchenko in the dying stages of the fourth round to capture the women's flyweight belt. Shevchenko, 34, had won her previous eight title fights and was in control of the fight through three rounds by dictating the action and repeatedly taking Grasso, 29, to the canvas.
Grasso produced a late fightback by taking Shevchenko down in the fourth round after the now former champion threw a back kick which cost her fight. Grasso took the back Shevchenko and secured a rear-naked choke which forced 'Bullet' to tap out.. Elsewhere on the card, there were wins for unbeaten prospects such as Bo Nickal, Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Garry.
