Everything you need to know about UFC 285: Jones vs. Gane

ACC UFC contributor Felix Heath-Collins with everything you need to know ahead of UFC 285: Jones vs. Gane

The cocaine king has finally returned! That's right, Jon "Bones" Jones will make his first UFC appearance in over three years with a heavyweight title fight against former interim champion Ciryl "Bon Gamin" Gane at UFC 285 this weekend.

Jon Jones (26-1) (wins-losses) vs. Ciryl Gane (11-1)

Jon "Bones" Jones has spent his entire MMA career ricocheting between the role of MMA superhero and supervillain. But, while fans and analysts endlessly debate Jones's moral compass, nobody questions his ability. At 6'4" (194cm) and with an unprecedented reach of 84.5" (215cm) Jones made his UFC debut at 21 years old. And in that debut, he demonstrated an incredibly dynamic and unpredictable new MMA style that he coined "Look-see-do".

Named after Bruce Lee's iconic "Jeet Kune Do", Jones' style is comprised of looking at fight footage, seeing how it's done, and then doing it. Interestingly, in the years leading up to his professional MMA debut, Jones based his training on fight footage and technique he saw uploaded to YouTube. Jones' "Look-see-do" style involves single strikes in extremely high variability. Or, in layman's terms, he throws a lot of strikes and never really throws the same strike twice.

In his prime, Jones demolished the legendary light-heavyweight division so absolutely that now ten years on it's still recovering. He won the championship off Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and defended the belt against everybody who was anybody. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida, Vitor Belfort, Daniel "DC" Cormier, Alexander Gustafsson, and Dominick "The Devastator" Reyes all fell to "Johnny Bones" Jones. In fact, the only loss on Jones' record came in a controversial DQ (disqualification) following a 12-6 (downward) elbow on the ground. In short, the only fighter who beat Jon Jones WAS Jon Jones himself. Jones abdicated his light-heavyweight throne in 2020, and ever since has teased a move up in weight to heavyweight and a fight against the former champion Francis "The Predator" N'gannou. But now N'gannou has left the UFC behind for (literally) greener pastures, Jones and the top contender battle for the vacant belt.

Ciryl "Bon Gamin" Gane is essentially the perfect counter to Jon Jones. Instead of 21, Gane was 29 years old in his UFC debut; instead of inventing his own bizarrely effective style, Gane relies on the powerful fundamentals of French kickboxing; instead of training every strike and combination of strikes he sees on YouTube, Gane trains simple strikes in high repetitions; and, instead of 27 professional fights, Gane only has 12. But they're both 6'4", so there's that.

Ciryl Gane's pro career may be short, but he has definitely made the most of his time in the spotlight. In only nine UFC fights, Gane has already collected wins against Junior "Cigano" dos Santos, Jairzinho "Bigi Boy" Rozenstruik, Alexander "Drago" Volkov, Derrick "The Black Beast" Lewis, and Tai "Bam Bam" Tuivasa. The only loss on Gane's record came against former champion Francis N'gannou who surprised Gane with a wrestling gameplan before winning a unanimous decision.

Who wins? Well, it's a crap shoot, really. Jon has all the credentials and skills to smoke Ciryl like a cigar. But Jon hasn't fought in nearly three years and his prime is likely far in the rearview. Ciryl has the speed and heavyweight power to hurt Jon on the feet. But if even Francis' rudimentary wrestling could ground Ciryl, then Jon should be able to toss him around like a rag. On paper, this fight is incredibly close. Yet I would still pick Jon Jones. The man is an MMA monster that spent the past three years solely building muscle mass and getting arrested. Hero or villain, he sure is super.

Further down the card the greatest female fighter of all time Valentina "The Bullet" Shevchenko defends her flyweight belt against Alexa Grasso in the co-main event, while one of America's best wrestlers Bo Nickal faces the talented prospect Jamie Pickett to open the main card, and Ireland's newest superstar Ian Garry defending his undefeated record against the much more experienced Kenan Song to headline the prelims.

All in all, this ain't the card to miss.

UFC 285's main card starts at 4:00pm this Sunday for us here in New Zealand, with the early prelims beginning a few hours earlier at 11:30am. Enjoy!