UFC 285 Early Prelims will take place Saturday, March 4, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT. The Main Card PPV fight will take place at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT and will only be available on ESPN+.
Jon “Bones” Jones Vs Cyril “Bon Gamin” Gane:
MMA fans have been eagerly awaiting Jon Jones’ return. They will finally get to see him fight tomorrow night in the heavyweight division. Jones left the light heavyweight division after a win over Dominick Reyes in Feb. 2020. He has said that he lost some motivation and “fear” as a dominant reigning champion, which led to his decision to move to a new weight class. Adesanya feels that all of the factors around Jones will provide an uphill battle.
Ciryl Gane, who has held UFC gold in his young MMA career, will face Jon Jones in a highly anticipated fight. Although he lost to Francis Ngannou last year, Gane rebounded with a knockout win over Tai Tuivasa in September. Adesanya believes that this fight is significant because Jones has been out for three years. Gane is a new breed of heavyweight with impressive skills in striking and grappling. People tend to forget that Ngannou took him down. But it was an element of surprise since Ngannou is known for his strength and striking abilities.
“The Bullet” Valentina Shevchenko Vs Alexa Grasso
Valentina Shevchenko will defend her women’s flyweight title against Alexa Grasso at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 4th. Shevchenko has been looking for challengers at 125 pounds. She will be going for her eighth straight flyweight title defense and tenth overall win. Grasso has won four straight fights since moving to flyweight, beating Ji Yeon Kim, Maycee Barber, Joanne Wood, and Viviane Araujo in her last fight. The fight will serve as the co-feature to a main event vacant heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane at UFC 285.
Former UFC champion Henry Cejudo predicts that the fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso will go the distance, but warns that Grasso has power in her hands and could potentially knock out Shevchenko if she goes blow for blow with her. However, oddsmakers still consider Shevchenko to be a significant favorite. Cejudo also suggests that Shevchenko can exploit Grasso’s wide stance with leg kicks in striking exchanges.
Geoff Neal Vs Shavkat Rakhmonov
Shavkat Rakhmonov is highly skilled in both combat Sambo and MMA, making him a well-rounded fighter with excellent striking, wrestling, and submission skills. He can adjust his approach to any opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. In his upcoming fight against Neil Magny, Rakhmonov may use his size and kickboxing skill advantage. He will push Magny towards the fence, where he can set up takedowns. If Magny angles off or bursts forward with combinations. Rakhmonov can cut him off with kicks or change levels and wrestle when he gets aggressive.
Neil Magny is a heavy-handed Southpaw kickboxer with slick counter-punching skills and nine knockout wins. In his upcoming fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov, he needs to get aggressive and back Rakhmonov up with his straight punches. Magny can match Rakhmonov’s length and has the power to force respect from his opponent. He should focus on landing significant strikes in the boxing range to shift control of the fight in his favor. Good distance management alone won’t work against Rakhmonov’s wrestling skills, so Magny needs an elite outside striking game plan.
The winner of the upcoming fight between Shavkat Rakhmonov and Neil Magny is expected to break into the immediate title mix in the Welterweight division. The winner of this fight could potentially face Belal Muhammad, Khamzat Chimaev, or even Colby Covington in a title eliminator bout, bringing some clarity and new blood to the title mix. Rakhmonov’s dominance has put him on a fast track to the belt, while Neal already has a history with Muhammad.
Mateusz Gamrot Vs Jalin Turner
In the upcoming match between Mateusz Gamrot and Jalin Turner, wrestling is the way to go for Gamrot. While Gamrot is a triple threat with knockout wins, excellent offensive and defensive wrestling skills, and experience in competition grappling with a BJJ black belt, striking with Turner could be risky due to his reach and power. Turner was previously outwrestled in 2019 by Matt Frevola, indicating that Gamrot’s style of wearing down opponents with chain wrestling and top pressure could work against him as well.
Jalin Turner has an advantage in size and power over most of the Lightweight division. With his 6’3″ height and 77-inch reach. In his upcoming match against Mateusz Gamrot, Turner should focus on shots up the middle. To cause a collision when Gamrot moves forward and capitalize on his striking. He should also be looking to punish Gamrot’s failed long-distance shots. Which he tends to take despite being frowned upon strategically. If Gamrot puts himself out of position, Turner’s single strike could end the contest, especially if Gamrot is not prepared for it.
Bo Nickal Vs Jamie Pickett
Wrestlers transitioning into MMA is a common and often seamless process. With many successful wrestlers like Daniel Cormier and Henry Cejudo earning Olympic medals. Bo Nickal, an elite wrestler who won numerous accolades in college including; 4-time All-American, 3-time Individual National Champion, and Dan Hogen Award Winner, has also made a successful transition to MMA. In his first DWCS bout, he took down his opponent, swiftly took the back, and finished with a submission victory in the first round. Although he did not get a contract. Due to being only 2-0 as a professional at the time. He fought again in the same season of DWCS. Where he landed a massive left hand after faking a single leg attempt. The finished the fight with a triangle choke in the first round.
Bo Nickal’s elite wrestling skills give him an advantage on the feet as his opponents are focused on defending against takedowns, allowing him to land explosive strikes. His 140+ match experience in wrestling also makes him a seasoned competitor compared to his limited professional fights. On the other hand, Jamie Pickett has underwhelmed with a record of 2-4 in the UFC despite having athletic potential. He typically uses a long straight left hand and clinches to land knees to the body, but this style may not work against Nickal who is known for his wrestling. Pickett may need to go for broke on the feet to end the fight early. But his past fighting tendencies make it uncertain whether he will do so. If he does not, Bo is likely to make quick work of him. Just as he did in all three of his professional fights so far.
With that, we can close out our predictions and breakdowns for 285. The pound 4 pound greatest fighter the UFC has ever seen, Jon “Bones” Jones, will be fighting this at UFC 285 in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday the 4th of March 2023. We will hear gunfire in the co-main with the Women’s Flyweight Champion Valentina “The Bullet” Shevchenko making this potentially the most exciting event of the year. The Early Prelims and Preliminary Cards for this event is also stacked with winning streak fighters so make sure you read our The UFC 285 Preliminary Card – A Potential Treasure-trove for the Future of the UFC.
