The crown jewel of the UFC’s first-quarter schedule for 2023 takes place Saturday with UFC 285. The loaded fight card goes down at T-Mobile Arena with a main card scheduled to air on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.
Two championship fights top the card, and they feature arguably the greatest male and female athletes the sport has ever seen. In the headlining act, Former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC) will finally return from a more than three-year layoff and make the move to heavyweight for a vacant title showdown with Ciryl Gane (11-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC).
The co-headliner, meanwhile, will see decorated women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko (23-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) attempt to make her eighth consecutive defense of her belt when she welcomes Mexican challenger Alexa Grasso (15-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC).
For more on the numbers behind the two title fights, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about UFC 285.
Jon Jones
Jones owns or is on the verge of owning numerous key UFC records. Check out his complete stat sheet to see where he stands in company history.
Ciryl Gane
Gane is the only French-born fighter in history to win a version of a UFC title.
Gane is one of 15 fighters in history to win a version of a UFC title with an undefeated record.
Gane is one of three heavyweights in modern UFC history to start his career 7-0 inside the octagon. Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos also accomplished the feat.
Gane’s average fight time of 16:07 in UFC heavyweight competition is second-longest in divisional history behind Blagoy Ivanov (16:26).
Gane lands 59.7 percent of his significant strike attempts in UFC heavyweight competition, the best rate among active fighters in the division.
Gane defends 62.8 of all opponent significant strike attempts in UFC heavyweight competition, tied for the third-best rate in divisional history behind Jon Madsen (81.4 percent) and Matt Mitrione (64.6 percent).
Gane’s +82 significant strike differential against Derrick Lewis at UFC 265 is the largest margin in a UFC heavyweight title fight.
Valentina Shevchenko
Shevchenko is one of two women’s flyweight champions in UFC history. Nicco Montano is the other.
Shevchenko’s seven consecutive UFC title defenses are most among current promotional champions.
Shevchenko is 9-0 since she dropped to the UFC flyweight division in February 2018.
Shevchenko’s nine-fight winning streak in UFC competition is the third-longest active streak in the company behind Islam Makhachev (12) and Arnold Allen (10).
Shevchenko’s nine-fight UFC winning streak at women’s flyweight is the longest active streak in the division.
Shevchenko’s nine victories in UFC women’s flyweight competition are tied with Katlyn Chookagian for most in divisional history.
Shevchenko’s five stoppage victories in UFC women’s flyweight competition are second-most in divisional history behind Gillian Robertson (seven).
Shevchenko’s four knockout victories in UFC women’s flyweight competition are most in divisional history.
Shevchenko is one of nine fighters in history to end a UFC title fight with a knockout stemming from a head kick. She accomplished the feat at UFC 238.
Shevchenko lands 56.4 percent of her significant strike attempts in UFC women’s flyweight competition, the best accuracy rate in divisional history.
Shevchenko defends 71 percent of all opponent significant strike attempts in UFC women’s flyweight competition, the second-best rate in divisional history behind Manon Fiorot (71.7 percent) and Mara Romero Borella (71.2 percent).
Shevchenko is the only fighter in UFC history to earn multiple knockouts stemming from the crucifix position. She accomplished the feat at UFC 247 and UFC 261.
Shevchenko has completed at least one takedown in 13 of her 14 UFC appearances.
Shevchenko’s 31 takedowns landed in UFC women’s flyweight competition are most in divisional history.
Shevchenko lands 70.5 percent of her takedown attempts in UFC women’s flyweight competition, the best rate in divisional history.
Shevchenko’s two fight-night bonuses for UFC women’s flyweight bouts are tied for second-most in divisional history behind Molly McCann (three).
Alexa Grasso
Grasso is 4-0 since she moved up to the UFC women’s flyweight division in August 2020.
Grasso’s four-fight UFC winning streak in women’s flyweight competition is tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the division behind Shevchenko (nine), Fiorot (five) and Erin Blanchfield (five).
Grasso has earned six of her seven UFC victories by decision.
Geoff Neal vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
Geoff Neal (15-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) defends 88 percent of all opponent takedown attempts in UFC welterweight competition, the third-best rate among active fighters in the weight class behind Kamaru Usman (97.2 percent) and Belal Muhammad (92.7 percent).
Shavkat Rakhmonov’s (16-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) four-fight UFC winning streak at welterweight is tied for the second-longest active streak in the division behind Michel Pereira (five).
Rakhmonov has earned all 16 of his career victories by stoppage.
Rakhmonov’s four-fight UFC stoppage streak is tied for third-longest among active fighters on the roster behind Sergei Pavlovich (five) and Jalin Turner (five).
Rakhmonov is one of 14 fighters in UFC history to earn a knockout stemming from a spinning wheel kick. He accomplished the feat at UFC Fight Night 200.
Mateusz Gamrot vs. Jalin Turner
Jalin Turner’s (13-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC) five-fight UFC winning streak at lightweight is tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the division behind Makhachev (11), Beneil Dariush (eight) and Rafael Fiziev (six).
Turner has earned all 13 of his career victories by stoppage.
Turner’s five-fight stoppage streak in UFC competition is tied with Pavlovich for the longest streak among active fighters in the company.
Cody Garbrandt vs. Trevin Jones
Cody Garbrandt (12-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) returns to competition for the first time since Dec. 11, 2021. The 488-day layoff is the longest of his more than 10-year career.
Garbrandt returns to the bantamweight division after an unsuccessful one-fight stint at flyweight.
Garbrandt is 1-5 in his past six fights dating back to November 2017.
Garbrandt’s nine knockdowns landed in UFC bantamweight competition are tied for third-most in divisional history behind Petr Yan (10) and Marlon Vera (10).
Trevin Jones’ (13-9 MMA, 1-3 UFC) three-fight losing skid is the longest of his career. He hasn’t earned a victory since March 2021.
Derek Brunson vs. Dricus Du Plessis
Derek Brunson’s (23-8 MMA, 14-6 UFC) 14 victories in UFC middleweight competition are tied for second-most in divisional history behind Michael Bisping (16).
Brunson’s nine stoppage victories in UFC middleweight competition are third-most in divisional history behind Silva (11) and Gerald Meerschaert (10).
Brunson’s seven knockout victories in UFC middleweight competition are tied for fourth most in divisional history behind Silva (eight), Uriah Hall (eight) and Thiago Santos (eight).
Brunson’s seven first-round stoppage victories in UFC middleweight competition are most in divisional history.
Brunson is one of nine fighters in modern UFC history to register both a knockout and submission victory in less than one minute each. He’s the only middleweight to accomplish the feat.
Dricus Du Plessis’ (18-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) four-fight UFC winning streak at middleweight is tied with Alex Pereira, Roman Dolidze and Andre Petroski for the longest active streak in the division.
Du Plessis has earned 17 of his 18 career victories by stoppage. He’s finished eight of those wins in Round 1.
Viviane Araujo vs. Amanda Ribas
Viviane Araujo (11-4 MMA, 5-3 UFC) has earned four of her five UFC victories by decision.
Araujo’s average fight time of 16:26 in UFC women’s fight competition is second-longest in divisional history behind Shevchenko (17:01).
Amanda Ribas (11-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) is 1-1 in UFC women’s flyweight competition.
Julian Marquez vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
Marc-Andre Barriault’s (14-6 MMA, 3-5 UFC) victory at the 4:56 mark of Round 3 at UFC 260 marked the second latest stoppage in UFC middleweight history behind Garreth McLellan (4:58, Round 3) at UFC Fight Night 76.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.
UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. Follow him on Twitter @MJCflipdascript.
