Jon Jones is the best at mixed martial arts, and everyone else isn’t even close. Even though she gained weight and spent three years away, nothing has changed.
In the main event of UFC 285 at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night, Jones beat Ciryl Gane with a guillotine choke at 2 minutes and 4 seconds into the first round. Jones is now the heavyweight champion of the UFC. For years, he was the light heavyweight champion. He was already thought to be the best MMA fighter, and this win proved it.
Jones said in his interview after the fight, “I’ve worked hard for this for a long time.” “Many people thought I wouldn’t be back. I have stayed true to my goal. I have stayed true to the mission. I didn’t want to train some days, but I was always there.”
To be honest, Jones made it all look easy. He knocked Gane down, got him to sit against the cage, and then put a choke on him. It wasn’t normal, and Gane seemed to be safe. Jones tightened up, though, and Gane had to tap.
RELATED MORE: Luis Garcia Hit a Must-Watch Home Run Against the Mets
It was the third-fastest submission in a UFC heavyweight title fight. At UFC 51, Tim Sylvia was knocked out by Andrei Arlovski in 47 seconds. At UFC 48, Tim Sylvia was knocked out by Frank Mir in 50 seconds.
Jones said, “I’ve been wrestling since I was 12 years old.” “I feel stronger and more at ease than ever on the ground. Once I had him in my hands, I knew that was where I was most comfortable and where I could take charge.”
Since February 2020, Jones had not fought. In August 2020, he gave up the light heavyweight belt to get ready for a move up to heavyweight. Jones wanted the right amount of time to move up, and he got it. He put on more than 25 pounds of muscle and weighed in at 248 pounds on Friday when he had always fought at 205 pounds.
Dana White, the head of the UFC, said that when Jones went into the Octagon, he treated Gane “like he was a little kid.”
White said, “I’m a big fan of ring rust.” “We didn’t see any rust on the rings. Who knows if ring rust was there? He just went in, and it was a piece of cake. He’s a strange person.”
Jones had been talking about moving up to the heavyweight division as early as 2012. He has never really lost in the cage. The only time he lost was when he was disqualified from a fight he was winning. Jones is the eighth fighter to win titles in two divisions. He is the third fighter, after Randy Couture and Daniel Cormier, to win UFC titles at both heavyweight and light heavyweight.
Former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou left UFC earlier this year and became a free agent. He gave up the heavyweight title.
Jones’s win sets up a fight between him and Stipe Miocic, who has won two UFC heavyweight titles and is the most successful fighter in UFC history.
“You guys want me to beat up Stipe?” Jones said in his interview with the Octagon. “I know one thing about the UFC: we show fans what they want to see. I hope you’re working out, Stipe Miocic. You are the strongest person who has ever lived. I want that to happen. I really want you.”
Jones (27-1, 1 NC) holds the UFC record for the longest unbeaten streak (19 fights), most wins in title fights (15), and most defenses of his title (11, tied with Demetrious Johnson). The boxer from New York lives and trains in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In his last fight to defend the 205-pound title, he beat Dominick Reyes.
Jones, who is now 35, was the youngest fighter to win a UFC title when he was 23 years old in 2011.
This was Jones’s first finish since 2018 and his first submission win since 2012.
Jones said, “I’ve been used to high praise for a while now.” “I know that pride comes before a fall, and I know that it will be more important than ever to stay grounded.”
Gane, who was 32 and had a record of 11-2, had just knocked out Tai Tuivasa in the third round in September. At UFC 270 in January 2022, he lost to Ngannou by unanimous decision for the UFC heavyweight title. This was his only other loss in MMA.
The French fighter said that he was “mad” at himself for losing.
Gane said, “This one hurts so much.” “This one really stinks. It’s now the past. I have to move forward to see what’s coming. And I’ll go back to the gym right away.”
