Fight Facts: UFC 285 ‘Jones vs. Gane’

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and Octagon oddities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 7,030
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 638

The Ultimate Fighting Championship went all out in Las Vegas for a pay-per-view card that will be remember for quite some time. A pair of championship tilts on the marquee concluded in thrilling and memorable ways, with a myriad of storylines coming forward at night’s end. UFC 285 featured the coronation of a new heavyweight king, the shocking changing of the guard in a division long considered on lock and a ludicrous betting favorite that cashed with ease.

Chalk to Chalk: Throughout the 14-fight card, just one betting underdog managed to spring an upset. Alexa Grasso was the lone victor with plus-money odds on her side, while Viviane Araujo vs. Amanda Ribas closed as a pick-‘em.

Baaaaaaaaaaa: Atop UFC 285, Jon Jones tapped Ciryl Gane with a first-round guillotine choke to claim the vacant heavyweight crown. Jones now serves as the eighth two-division champion in UFC history, joining the likes of Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and B.J. Penn.

Greatness Remembered: Jones picked up his 21st victory inside the Octagon by topping Gane in a new division. He ties Rafael dos Anjos, Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier for the fifth-most in company history, and they all trail Jim Miller’s 24.

When the Lights Shine the Brightest: The championship win for Jones was his 15th in UFC title fights. In triumph, Jones extends his record for the most in organizational history, with the next closest active fighter Amanda Nunes’ 10.

Jones 3.5: By wiping out Gane in 2:04 of the opening frame, the 35-year-old Jones scored his quickest victory since blitzing Vladimir Matyushenko with elbows in 1:52 at UFC Live 2 in August 2010. At the time, only three of the other 27 fighters on the card had made their pro debuts.

Goatly Endeavors: Securing his first win since 2020, Jones improved his unbeaten streak to 19 straight, for the longest such stretch in promotional history. Since losing by disqualification to Matt Hamill in 2009, Jones has rattled off 18 wins with a no contest due to a failed drug test along the way.

Revolving Door of Big Men: Becoming a new champion in his first try at the heavyweight division, Jones became the 21st man to hold a UFC heavyweight strap, interim or undisputed. This is far and away more than any other weight category, with the next closest light heavyweight’s 16.

Tres Leches: Hitting a fourth-round submission on Valentina Shevchenko, Grasso earned her place as the third champion in UFC women’s flyweight divisional history. She is also the third Mexican-born champ in the company, joining Brandon Moreno and Yair Rodriguez.

Jawbreaker: With the grip over the jaw, Grasso officially performed a face crank rather than a rear-naked choke on Shevchenko. Hers is the first submission of its specific type in UFC championship history.

Learning Jitz: The submission for Grasso was just the second in her professional career. Her first came just under a year ago, when she hit a rear-naked choke on Joanne Wood at UFC on ESPN 33.

The End of a Dynasty: Grasso concluded Shevchenko’s championship reign that included seven consecutive defenses with her submission victory. The current champ with the most defenses now goes to Alexander Volkanovski’s featherweight run of four straight, and Volkanovski is the only champion with more than two defenses in his division right now.

Knocking on the Door to Contention: To improve his pro record to 17-0 with 17 finishes, Shavkat Rakhmonov throttled Geoff Neal with a rear-naked choke in a hard-fought battle. It marked only the second time in those 17 outings that “Nomad” had reached the third round.

Needs More Hype: With all five of his UFC wins coming inside the distance, Rakhmonov is now the fourth welterweight in the UFC to notch five straight stoppage wins. He joins Thiago Alves, Matt Brown and Vicente Luque, while becoming the first to do so in the first five wins of his UFC tenure.

A True Gamer: On short notice, Mateusz Gamrot took on Jalin Turner and snagged a split decision. All of Turner’s wins have come by stoppage, and any time he has gone the distance, he has lost.

Beware of Appeal: Ahead of his UFC debut against Jamie Pickett, Bo Nickal closed as a -1800 betting favorite. This now serves as the second largest in UFC history, coming in only behind Alexander Romanov’s -2000 showing vs. Chase Sherman in 2022.

The Groin Shot Though: Nickal strangled Pickett with an arm-triangle choke at 2:54 into their meeting to improve his young record to 4-0. With four finishes on his ledger thus far, Nickal spent more time in the cage in this match than his first three pro fights combined (2:27).

Not Shot Yet: Earning his first win in nearly three years, Cody Garbrandt picked up a unanimous verdict over Trevin Jones. The ex-bantamweight champ has now won three bouts by decision across his storied career, and this marks his first since beating Dominick Cruz over five rounds in 2016.

Deceptive Cardio: At the tail end of the second round, Dricus Du Plessis recorded the stoppage over Derek Brunson to earn his fifth win in five UFC outings. “Stillknocks” boosted his finish rate to 95% with the victory.

Keep Normalizing Corner Stoppages: With one second remaining in Round 2, Brunson’s corner threw in the towel to protect their fighter. There has been exactly one corner stoppage in each of the last four years for the UFC.

Missiles Defused: Laying into Julian Marquez until he procured a stoppage, Marc-Andre Barriault claimed his 10th pro win by knockout. On the other hand, Marquez has still only heard the final bell twice in 13 pro fights.

The Future is in the Future: Lifting his flawless record to 11-0 since making his pro debut in 2019, Ian Garry busted up Kenan Song. The stoppage with 38 seconds left in the fight marked the latest win of “The Future” by a wide margin, as he had never finished a fight any later than 8:17 before this.

Not Dirty, But Unclean: In a foul-filled 15-minute encounter, Cameron Saaiman emerged victorious by majority decision over the heavy Leomana Martinez. The South African – fighters from South Africa ended the night at 2-0 with Saaiman and Du Plessis winning – moved to 8-0, while going the distance for the second time in those eight appearances.

Armbarred the Armbarrer: Twelve years Jessica Penne’s junior, Tabatha Ricci landed an armbar on the 40-year-old to record her first finish in the Octagon. “Baby Shark” became the second woman to submit the former Invicta Fighting Championships titleholder, with the first nearly 10 years ago in April 2013.

Ferocity Limited: Farid Basharat made his successful debut when he outworked Da'Mon Blackshear to take home a unanimous nod on all three scorecards. Now 10-0 thus far, “Ferocious Farid” has fought into the second round in eight of those encounters.

Second Fiddle: The second fighter from Tajikistan made his debut when Loik Radzhabov walked to the cage and defeated Esteban Ribovics. The first came on week ago, when Nurullo Aliev made history. Radzhabov pushed Ribovics to the distance, which was a first for the Argentinian fighter.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC 285, Gane had never been finished (12 fights), Shevchenko had never been submitted (26 fights) and Araujo (15 fights) and Marquez (12 fights) had never dropped consecutive bouts.

You’ve Been Thunderstruck: Selecting “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC and earning a decision win over Jones, Garbrandt claimed the 20th recorded victory for the popular rock track. The song is just the 11th in company history to lodge at least that many wins for fighters – but the track still holds a record below .500.

Mufami Mufami Mufami: For the second time in UFC history, a fighter walked out to Tones and I’s “Dance Monkey.” Marquez selected the pop tune from the Aussie singer, like Gina Mazany did in 2020 against Julia Avila, and lost. Neither of those fighters have won after picking “Dance Monkey.”

They Stopped Believin’: Over the years, many fighters including Brad Tavares, Phillipe Nover and Felice Herrig have walked out to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Penne is one such competitor, and with her loss to Ricci, the recorded win percentage of the fan-favorite song drops to .300.