Two-time Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones is set for a return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) when he tees up against French mixed martial artist Ciryl Gane for his debut in the heavyweight division at UFC 285 in Las Vegas on Saturday.
A HEAVYWEIGHT KING WILL BE CROWNED! ????@JonnyBones is BACK against @Ciryl_Gane in tomorrow’s #UFC285 main event!
[ Live on ESPN+ PPV: https://t.co/twBcYMJ3ve ] pic.twitter.com/paLLuZkb6K
— UFC (@ufc) March 4, 2023
Jones (26-1-0), who is currently unbeaten in the UFC, will battle in the octagon for the first time in over three years as he looks to become the eighth multi-division champion in history, as well as the third man to become a heavyweight and light heavyweight champion.
Gane (11-1-0), on the other hand, is a former interim UFC champion and he is presently the top-ranked fighter in the division; therefore, the 32-year-old Frenchman is no pushover.
During the weigh-in for the bout on Friday, Jones, who weighed 248 pounds, a huge 44 pounds more than his last fight in February 2020, made known his gratitude at having the opportunity to return to the UFC after a lengthy time out of the sport.
“I’m honoured, I’m grateful to be back. Thank my Lord and savior Jesus Christ for having me back in this position, and yeah it’s fight week, three hard years of dedication and focus and I’m back, and I’m just so grateful, that’s it,” he said.
Furthermore, the 35-year-old American appreciated his fans for thinking of him as the greatest MMA fighter of all time.
“What do you guys think? You think I’m the greatest of all time or what? I appreciate the love. You guys are rowdy, I love the energy, keep it coming,” Jones said. “You know, I feel like God’s blessed me with a great talent, and it’s my job, I owe it to greatness to be here and put it all on the line, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do, I feel like I don’t have anything to prove, but at the same time I just wanna be someone that people look up to in the future.”
The two fighters will battle at the T-Mobile Arena for the UFC Heavyweight Championship, which was recently vacated by former champion, Cameroon’s Francis Ngannou, following his release from the franchise due to a contractual dispute.
Fighting for flyweight supremacy!! ????@BulletValentina defends her title against @AlexaGrasso in tomorrow’s co-main event!
[ #UFC285 | Live on ESPN+ PPV: https://t.co/twBcYMJ3ve ] pic.twitter.com/nG0LgP5awd
— UFC (@ufc) March 4, 2023
Other fights on the UFC 285 card include the title bout between current UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion, Valentina ‘Bullet’ Shevchenko, and No. 6 ranked contender, Alexa Grasso; and American MMA fighter Geoffrey Neal up against Kazakhstan’s Shavkat Rakhmonov.
