Cody Garbrandt def. Trevin Jones via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to us tonight, March 4, 2023, for UFC 285, headlined by back-to-back title fights showcasing former UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former interim UFC heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane, and then UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko, who faced no. 6 ranked Alexa Grasso in attempt to make the eighth successful defense of her title in the co-main event of the evening.
Headlining the preliminary card was former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt, who was initially slated to face Julio Arce at this event. However, Arce was recently forced from the bout with a knee injury and replaced by Trevin Jones.
Since winning the bantamweight title, Garbrandt had gone 1-5 over his latest six appearances, bringing his record from 11-0 to 12-5, while Jones opened up his respective UFC tenure with back-to-back knockout victories over Timur Valiev and Mario Bautista before dropping his last three-straight fights.
Round one
Cody Garbrandt opens up the bout with a pair of nasty body kicks, and he continues to land them throughout the first round. He also lands a nice overhand right and a good right cross to the body. His activity isn’t high, but he isn’t missing much and he’s out-striking Jones.
Round two
Garbrandt opens up the second with a beautifully timed takedown as he slams Jones straight into side control, though Jones is back to his feet not long thereafter. Garbrandt times another perfect takedown shot midway through the second and remains in Jones’ guard for a good 80 seconds before briefly taking his back.
This was a well rounded Cody Garbrandt we saw tonight at UFC 285, Trevin Jones landed just eight strikes through the first 10 minutes.
Round three
Garbrandt coasts the entire third round, but gets caught with a hard two-punch combination from Jones that hurts him pretty badly with about 90 seconds left in the fight. Garbrandt ties up with him, but gets caught with another right before he’s taken down. Jones remains on top of Garbrandt for the final minute of the fight.
It wasn’t the most eventful affair, there were just 21 significant strikes landed by Cody Garbrandt to Trevin Jones’ 10 with two minutes left on the clock, but the former bantamweight champion gets back to his winning ways with a universal 29-28 unanimous decision victory tonight at UFC 285.
If you enjoyed this piece, feel free to share it on social media!