Jon Jones fight: Everything you need to know about the former UFC champion's much-awaited octagon return

UFC 285 poster (Left), and Jon Jones (Right) [Photo credit: @ufc - Twitter]
UFC 285 poster (Left), and Jon Jones (Right) [Photo credit: @ufc - Twitter]

Jon Jones will be making his much-awaited octagon return at UFC 285, which will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 4.

The bout materialized after Francis Ngannou declined the UFC's contract offer in favor of becoming a free agent, resulting in him being stripped of the heavyweight championship. Based on his decision, the promotion needed two worthy contenders to fight for the vacant title and so, Ciryl Gane and the former light heavyweight king were booked for UFC 285.

For years, 'Bones' teased a move up to heavyweight but the move never came to fruition. After successfully retaining his light heavyweight championship against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247, he relinquished the title and finally committed to the move up.

Jones took time to get his body acclimated to competing heavier than he's accustomed to and also spent time training with former two-division champion Henry Cejudo at Fight Ready MMA. Last year, it was reported that the UFC was looking to book 'Bones' vs. Ngannou, but 'The Predator's recovery from knee surgery was a hurdle.

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A heavyweight bout between 'Bones' and Stipe Miocic was also rumored to be in the works, but the former heavyweight champion wanted more time to prepare for the bout. It seemed like Miocic vs. Jones was going to be the vacant title fight, but the promotion decided to go with 'Bon Gamin' as 'Bones' first opponent at heavyweight.

It will be interesting to see how the former light heavyweight champion performs at heavyweight, especially considering that he's coming off a three-year layoff from his last fight.


Daniel Cormier says it was nice to see Jon Jones acknowlege him as an unbiased commentator

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Daniel Cormier weighed in after his former rival Jon Jones complimented his abilities as a commentator, saying that he wouldn't have a problem with him being on commentary at UFC 285.

Cormier uploaded a video to his YouTube channel and noted that it was nice to hear that 'Bones', who has been at odds with him for many years, acknowledged his professionalism as a commentator.

He said:

"It's kinda nice to hear the fighter acknowledge that even with our history, he believes that I could do him justice and do the job fairly. Because I've done it before, and I've done it at a time when him and I were at the height of our engagements, of our rivalry, of our fighting."

The fact that 'DC' called 'Bones' bout against Ovince Saint Preux during their bitter rivalry with each other should be enough proof that he will be unbiased when calling the fight now that he's a retired fighter and UFC Hall of Famer.

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Edited by Micah Curtis
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