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UFC 285: Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane saw two new champions crowned, but there were many major winners up and down the card.
Some of these winners simply did enough to save their octagon careers, while others will probably rise into genuine title contention thanks to their victories.
Here are the five biggest winners from UFC 285: Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane.
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#5. Mateusz Gamrot – defeated Jalin Turner in a UFC lightweight bout
It’s arguable that the fighter who took the biggest risk at UFC 285 was Mateusz Gamrot.
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The Polish lightweight took his bout with Jalin Turner on less than a month’s notice. Given that ‘The Tarantula’ came into the fight three spots below him in the rankings, he had plenty to lose and little to gain.
More to the point, Turner, with his extreme height and reach advantage, looked like a genuinely bad matchup for ‘Gamer', and had won his last five fights.
However, when it came down to it, Gamrot produced an excellent showing. He didn’t always find things easy, as Turner did land some of his trademark shots from the outside. But in the end, his takedowns, durability and ground work won him a split decision.
The win probably won’t move ‘The Gamer’ any closer to a title shot, but in a loaded division like 155 pounds, he couldn’t really afford to lose for the second fight in a row.
Therefore, this victory was a great way for him to bounce back from his loss to Beneil Dariush, making him one of UFC 285’s biggest winners.
#4. Cody Garbrandt – defeated Trevin Jones in a UFC bantamweight bout
Given that he’d lost his last two fights and was 1-5 in his last six, it’s fair to say Cody Garbrandt had his back to the wall last night. Had ‘No Love’ lost to Trevin Jones, his UFC career could well have been over.
Thankfully for the former bantamweight champion, he appeared to roll back the years and produced one of his best recent showings to claim a unanimous decision.
Sure, Jones didn’t offer much in the first two rounds, barely landing a strike as Garbrandt sniped at him with some good shots, but that changed in the third round.
A left-right combination had ‘No Love’ hurt, and based on his recent performances, it would’ve been no surprise to see him stopped. However, he showed some surprising toughness and durability to gut things out, and hung on for a clear-cut victory.
Does the win make Garbrandt ready for a ranked foe, as Joe Rogan suggested last night? Perhaps not, but it definitely saved his UFC career. In the future, he could climb back into contention.
That alone is enough to consider him one of last night’s biggest winners.
#3. Shavkat Rakhmonov – defeated Geoff Neal in a UFC welterweight bout
Outside of the two title bouts on offer last night, the fighter who took the biggest step towards UFC title contention was undoubtedly unbeaten welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov.
‘Nomad’ produced an instant classic with Geoff Neal, with the two men exchanging huge strikes for almost three rounds before Rakhmonov strangled ‘Handz of Steel’ unconscious with less than a minute remaining.
Given that Neal came into the fight at No.7 in the division, it’s likely that Rakhmonov will climb at least two places up from his current No.9 when the rankings are updated this week.
However, it was the nature of his win that was more important. This wasn’t the kind of flawless showing that Rakhmonov produced against Neil Magny, for instance. The Kazakh fighter took some serious shots from Neal and was probably hurt more than once.
Despite this, he showed both the heart and toughness needed to be a champion as he pulled away in the third round, smashing his foe from the plum clinch before securing the fight-ending choke.
Can Rakhmonov become the welterweight kingpin, then? He’d be advised not to take as many clean shots as he did in this game, but if Khamzat Chimaev is really moving to 185 pounds, he should definitely be considered the division’s hottest prospect.
This was a huge victory for him, and to see him in a title fight before 2023 is out wouldn’t be a shock at all.
#2. Jon Jones – defeated Ciryl Gane to win the UFC heavyweight title
Even though it’s arguable that a different fighter should be considered last night’s biggest winner, the man that everyone will be talking about coming out of UFC 285 is undoubtedly Jon Jones.
The former light heavyweight kingpin produced his best performance in years, dispatching Ciryl Gane with terrifying ease in the first round to claim the vacant heavyweight title.
After the fight, everyone from Jon Anik to the promotion’s various social media pages were quick to proclaim Jones the ‘GOAT’. While that’s debatable, there’s no disputing that this was an incredible showing.
Coming into the bout, there were genuine doubts around Jones for the first time in years. He hadn’t fought in three years, had never fought someone as hard-hitting as Gane, and prior to his hiatus, didn’t look too hot in fights with Dominick Reyes and Thiago Santos.
However, he simply dominated Gane, easily taking him down and submitting him with a guillotine choke in just over two minutes. Does the win make ‘Bones’ the world’s best heavyweight? Not while Francis Ngannou exists.
Inside the UFC, though he’s now the man. If he can smash past former champ Stipe Miocic next, it won’t be too difficult for fans to put him ahead of Ngannou in the bigger picture either.
#1. Alexa Grasso – defeated Valentina Shevchenko to win the UFC flyweight title
While she isn’t likely to get the same kind of mainstream attention that Jon Jones will get, it’s arguable that UFC 285’s biggest winner was Alexa Grasso.
Not only did she claim the flyweight title in a huge upset, but she also submitted Valentina Shevchenko, widely recognized as one of the greatest female fighters in MMA history.
Remarkably, this was the first time that ‘Bullet’ had ever been finished in an MMA bout, her first loss since September 2017, and her first defeat at 125 pounds, period.
Sure, it’s probably fair to say that Grasso’s fourth-round finish felt a little fortunate. She was clearly behind on the scorecards when Shevchenko threw an ill-advised spinning kick, allowing the Mexican to leap onto her back and sink the fight-ending rear-naked choke.
However, given that the finishing sequence took a truly incredible amount of poise and skill to pull off, it’s impossible to play it down.
Grasso will likely have to fend off a rejuvenated and angry Shevchenko in an instant rematch next. After this win, though, nobody will count out the Mexican again.
More to the point, even if she loses, she’ll always be remembered as a UFC champion, and one who pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the promotion’s history.
That makes her not only last night’s biggest winner, but one of the biggest of 2023 thus far.
