Martial Arts News

Ciryl Gane didn’t give Jon Jones much of a test in his heavyweight debut, and for that, the Frenchman is upset with himself.

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After a brief period on the feet, “Bon Gamin” was taken down and submitted with a guillotine choke 2:04 into Round 1 of the UFC 285 headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While Gane’s wrestling was expected to be his weakest area, few anticipated the fight ending that quickly. That included Gane, whose emotions in the aftermath included both disappointment and anger.

“Disappointed, of course. But the biggest feeling is angry about myself. Really angry,” Gane said at the UFC 285 post-fight press conference. “Because yes, we accepted this fight, it was not short-notice, but the time was not too long, but we worked a lot, we spent a lot of time. We trained with my sparring partners, so I’m really angry about myself because I spent a lot of time with my partners, my coaches, my family, and it [didn’t show] during the fight…

Stipe Miocic didn’t seem as impressed with Jon Jones’ heavyweight debut as the rest of the world was after UFC 285.

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Jones captured the vacant heavyweight strap with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane in Saturday’s main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday. The victory sets up a showdown with Miocic at a future event. The target date for that bout is rumored to be UFC 290 on July 8, but nothing is currently set in stone.

“Honestly, I thought it was going to a decision,” Miocic said during the UFC 285 post-fight show on ESPN+. “I didn’t know how Jon was, he took three years off but hats off to him. You see some things, I’ll keep them to myself but I definitely see some things [I can use].

“It’s a fight, he won, good for him. Hats off, but unfortunately he’s got to fight me in July.”

While much was made of the size Jones added to make the transition to heavyweight, Miocic pointed out that everyone in the division is pretty bi…

Defending lightweight champion Olivier Aubin-Mercier will welcome free-agent signee Shane Burgos to the Professional Fighters League cage on April 14.

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The promotion on Monday announced the lineup for PFL 3, which will feature lightweights and welterweights at the Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. PFL begins with prelims at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ESPN2 and ESPN+ and continues with the main card on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. In the evening’s co-headliner, 2022 welterweight champ Sadibou Sy will lock horns with Jarrah Al-Silawi.

Other bouts slated for the main draw are as follows: Natan Schulte vs. Steven Ray; Raush Manfio vs. Alex Martinez; Shane Mitchell vs. TBA and Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov vs. Ahmed Amir.

Meanwhile, the ESPN2 prelims will feature the following four contests: Clay Collard vs. Yamato Nishikawa; Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Don Madge; Carlos Leal Miranda vs. David Zawada; and Magomed Umalatov vs. Dilano Taylor.

Aubin-Me…

Alexa Grasso dealt with the weight of expectations years before she authored a career-defining upset against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 285.

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Dana White once called Grasso the potential “Ronda Rousey of Mexico,” a label the Lobo Gym MMA export struggled to meet to during the ups and downs of her early career. After going 3-3 in her first six Octagon appearances, Grasso has hit her stride with a five-bout UFC winning streak that culminated in her claiming flyweight gold in Saturday’s co-main event.

“Imagine that. I won the most important fight of my life,” Grasso said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I did everything I had to do to get my hand raised, and I knew that I had to finish the fight no matter what.”

Grasso was a considerable underdog against Shevchenko, who is widely regarded as one of the top two or three female pound-for-pound talents in the sport. She never appeared out of her depth against “Bullet,” however, and that eve…

Jon Jones essentially called his shot during fight week, and he delivered on that promise in the UFC 285 headliner.

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As he promised, “Bones” made it look easy against Ciryl Gane, winning via guillotine choke just 2:04 into the opening round of their heavyweight title bout on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. And just like that, Jones picked up where he left off three years ago, as one of the sport’s all-time best pound-for-pound fighters.

“We were really well rehearsed,” Jones said on the ESPN+ post-fight show. “I believe that I’m a product of my team. We take studying very seriously. I’m not sure if Ciryl Gane landed a clean strike on me or not, but we were ready defensively for every one of his strikes. It just felt so amazing.”

In truth, Gane wasn’t given much of a chance to unveil his highly-touted kickboxing arsenal. Jones took him down quickly and locked in the sneaky guillotine before the Frenchman could even find his bearing…

Ready to ride May 30th 🤠#TUF31 filming has officially begun! pic.twitter.com/1GZr81K7uN

— The Ultimate Fighter (@UltimateFighter) February 24, 2023

The cast for “The Ultimate Fighter 31” will feature a number of familiar faces.

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The promotion on Saturday announced the lightweight and bantamweight lineup for the reality show, which is currently taping and features Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler as opposing coaches.

Notable names for the “TUF 31” cast at 155 pounds include Octagon veterans such as Jason Knight, Kurt Holobaugh, Roosevelt Roberts and Austin Hubbard. Meanwhile, bantamweight features former UFC competitors such as Timur Valiev, Brad Katona, Hunter Azure and Cody Gibson.

“TUF 31” will premiere May 30 on ESPN at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT and each episode will also be available via ESPN+ at 11 p.m. ET following their network debut. McGregor and Chandler will square off at an as yet to be determined UFC even…

It was at night to remember at UFC 285, and that was due in large part to the efforts of Jon Jones and Alexa Grasso.

After a three-year absence, Jones returned in style with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane to claim the vacant heavyweight title in Saturday’s headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. That work earned Jones a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” check, which he pledged to donate to his Albuquerque-based charity on the ESPN+ post-fight show.

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Meanwhile, Grasso is the leader for “Upset of the Year” after shocking Valentina Shevchenko with a fourth-round face crank in the UFC 285 co-main event. Not only did Grasso become the third Mexican-born champion in promotion history, but she pocketed a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” award as a result.

Also receiving a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus was Octagon newcomer Bo Nickal, who tapped Jamie Pickett with an arm-triangle choke 2:54 into the opening stanza of their middlewe…

It was as if he had never left.

Jon Jones returned from a three-year sabbatical and laid claim to the vacant Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight crown, as he submitted Ciryl Gane with a guillotine choke in the first round of their UFC 285 headliner on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Gane (11-2, 8-2 UFC) raised the white flag of surrender 2:04 into Round 1.

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Jones (27-1, 21-1 UFC)—in his first appearance since Feb. 8, 2020—executed a takedown a little more than a minute into the bout, applied his ground-and-pound while climbing into a seated mount position and threaded the needle on the choke. Before Gane realized what was happening, his fate had been sealed.Grasso Ends Shevchenko Reign Alexa Grasso stunned the mixed martial arts world and captured the undisputed women’s strawweight championship, as she submitted Valentina Shevchenko with a face crank in the fourth round of their co-main event. Shevchenko (23-4, 12-3 UFC) bowed out 4:…

Sherdog's live UFC 285 coverage will begin Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Radzhabov (-250), Ribovics (+210)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Shane Clifford scores the round:

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Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Shane Clifford scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Shane Clifford scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Basharat (-410), Blackshear (+330)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Shane Clifford scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Shane Clifford scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Ben Duffy scores the round:Shane Clifford scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: …

Cody Garbrandt, if nothing else, kept his foot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship door.

The Xtreme Couture export outstruck and outmaneuvered a painfully inactive Trevin Jones to a unanimous decision in their featured UFC 285 bantamweight prelim on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. All three members of the cageside judiciary struck 29-28 scorecards.

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Garbrandt (13-5, 8-5 UFC) picked his spots through the first 10 minutes, steered clear of danger and kept his feet moving. He delivered a pair of takedowns in the second round and moved to the back before briefly threatening with a rear-naked choke. Jones (13-10, 1-4 UFC) finally got in gear in Round 3, where he connected with a few powerful left hands and climbed into top position. However, the finish he needed failed to materialize. In the penultimate prelim, former KSW champion Dricus Du Plessis wiped out Derek Brunson with punches in the second round of their middleweight clash. Du Plessis…

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Former EliteXC titleholder Wilson Reis continued his late-career resurgence in Cage Warriors Fighting Championship, as he took care of Johnny Campbell with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their CW 149 headliner on Friday at the Sycuan Casino Resort in San Diego. Reis (27-12, 4-0 CW) closed out the bantamweight affair 2:20 into Round 3.

Campbell (22-15, 0-1 CW) started strong and pushed the pace in the first part of the opening frame, where he secured a takedown and improved his position through ground-and-pound. Reis bounced back in the second part of the frame and wound up in top position after a wild scramble. The Brazilian came close to finishing Campbell twice in Round 2 with deep neck crank and arm-triangle attempts, but “Cupcakes” managed to survive. Reis looked for a successful takedown early in the third round, perhaps sensing his grappling skills were superior to his opponent’s defense. Once on the mat, the Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran worked …