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UFC 285 wrap: Jon Jones cements GOAT status with flawless victory

Jon Jones 2023

Jon Jones made his long-awaited return to the octagon at UFC 285, and he did not disappoint, putting away Cyril Gane with ease.

In the popular video game Mortal Combat, when a player defeats another without taking a hit, the phrase 'flawless victory' flashes across the screen as the defeated lies dismembered. Fans half expected this to appear on the big screen at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas following the main event, where the mercurial Jones beat Gane for the vacant heavyweight title.

Much had been made about his physique and whether he could shake the ring rust, but Jones' slick performance silenced any critics.

Apart from a kick to the cup, Jones took zero damage. After getting his hands on Gane, he showed superb chain wrestling to get him up against the cage before sliding in a guillotine choke just two minutes into the fight, stunning the sellout sin city crowd.

Former division champion Stipe Miocic is up next for Jones, but one can't help but feel the air of invincibility around the new-look Jones.

Another Mexican UFC champion

An upset is always around the corner in the UFC's women's division and Saturday's co-main event between UFC women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso gave fans just that.
While enjoying success on the feet, Grasso was losing the fight on the ground to the champions' perfectly timed takedowns. But the challenger turned the fight around in the fourth, slipping past a spinning back kick to take Shevchenko's back, get her hooks in, flatten her out and earn a submission win via face crank. Grasso let out a shriek of delight as she ended Shevchenko's nine-win streak.

Welterweight has a new title contender

Shavkat Rakhmonov and Geoff Neal put on a Fight of the Night performance, with the latter being on the receiving end of several brutal jabs, elbows and knees. Rakhmonov delivered a complete performance and finally put away the durable and bloodied Neal with a standing rear-naked choke. At 17-0 with 17 finishes, the UFC can no longer ignore the talented Kazakh.

Don't let Nikal (take your) back

Making his UFC debut - and on the main card to boot - Bo Nickal grabbed his opportunity (and his opponent) with both hands. The three-time NCAA wrestling champion lived up to the hype, grabbing Jamie Pickett, taking him down and slipping in an arm-triangle choke for an impressive win.

The best of the rest

In other notable performances, middleweight banger Dricus du Plessis of South Africa continued his meteoric rise up the rankings with a TKO stoppage win over UFC veteran Derek Brunson.

Former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt looked exceptionally fast, albeit very safe, against an underperforming Trevin Jones. Garbrandt - who had been knocked out in four of his last six fights before Saturday - evaded well and executed lightning-fast takedowns on his way to a unanimous decision win.

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