bones gets heavy for his return
Photo by UFC.com
Las Vegas, NV (PSF) - It has finally arrived. Jon Jones’ three year layoff comes to an end at UFC 285 when he faces Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight title. This main card may just be the most stacked five fights in UFC history.
The main card opener features the debut of Bo Nickal facing UFC veteran Jamie Pickett. The amount of hype behind Nickal is unreal, as he is already being looked at as a future middleweight champion within the next few years. His two victories on Dana White’s Contender Series lasted a combined two minutes, where he absorbed zero strikes in those bouts. Pickett is being written off before the fight, but he has nine knockouts in his career. If he can land something significant on Bo, we will have to see how he reacts to adversity. Nickal has a lot to prove on Saturday, and if he can show his dominance under the bright lights, he is bound to rise to the top of the division.
A fight under the radar on the main card is in the lightweight division between Mateusz Gamrot and Jalin Turner. These two contenders are seen by many as future champions, with both guys loving to scrap it out on the feet. All of Turner’s wins have been finishes and Gamrot has a combined twelve finishes of his own. Jalin Turner looks to be a live dog here as he is finally putting everything together, winning five straight in brutal fashion.
The women’s flyweight title is on the line in the Co-Main Event, with Alexa Grasso challenging the unstoppable Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko. Valentina is arguably the most well-rounded fighter in UFC women’s history, proving that in her six title defenses as champion. Grasso is on an impressive four fight win streak herself, but will have to go into deep waters on Saturday to defeat Valentina.
Jon “Bones” Jones’ long awaited heavyweight debut has been talked about for the last ten years and is finally going down this Saturday for the heavyweight strap. Ciryl Gane, the former interim heavyweight champion, is considered the best striker the division has ever seen. He moves like a middleweight, but hits like a heavyweight. Jones is going to have to use his elite wrestling and vicious combinations of kicks and elbows to hold off the striking ability of Gane. Jones has the most title fight wins in UFC history, but the three year layoff and the massive 40+ pound change of weight can play a huge factor in this fight. If anyone can pull it off, it would be the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, Jon Jones.
