Random Land! 16 Tidbits, Facts And Storylines | UFC 285

After two weeks inside its Apex facility, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is back on pay-per-view (PPV) this weekend (Sat., March 4, 2023) … and it is a gigantic fight card. Jon Jones returns to action for the first time in three years against Ciryl Gane for the vacant Heavyweight championship. In UFC 285’s co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko defends her Flyweight title against Alexa Grasso.

Before UFC’s massive third PPV goes down on Saturday, let’s check out some random storylines, tidbits, and statistics ahead of UFC 285.

11 years in the making

The consensus greatest fighter of all time (G.O.A.T) makes his long-awaited (and highly-anticipated) debut at Heavyweight this weekend at UFC 285. Jones has been teasing the move for a long time; in fact, he first said he would make a move to Heavyweight in 2012.

Eleven years and seven Light heavyweight title defenses later, “Bones” is finally a real Heavyweight. A source close to Jones told MMAmania.com that he was weighing 262 pounds five weeks prior to UFC 285 — that is a BIG man!

More Title Fights Than Fights

France’s Gane enters UFC 285 with 12 professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fights. His opponent, Jones, has competed (and won) 14 UFC title fights. He also has 11 Light Heavyweight title defenses. It is kind of nuts when you think about it.

Back-To-Back With Jon And Val

The last time Jones competed on UFC 247, Shevchenko was in the co-main event against Katlyn Chookagian. Fast forward three years, and once again, Jones and Shevchenko are UFC 285’s main- and co-main events.

Viva La Mexico

It has been a fantastic start to 2023 for Mexican MMA, especially in UFC. There are currently two Mexican champions (Brandon Moreno and Yair Rodriguez). On Saturday, Grasso has the chance to be the third Mexican champion and be the first-ever Mexican woman to challenge for a UFC title. That being said, she has a very, very tough task ahead of her.

Bo’s Debut

The Octagon debut of Bo Nickal has finally arrived.

The former college wrestling superstar was supposed to fight at UFC 282 in December; however, an injury caused the fight to be rebooked for UFC 285.

The hype behind Nickal is unreal, with many analysts and fighters saying it is only a matter of time before he becomes the Middleweight champion. Heck, there has been some chatter to throw him in a Top 5 matchup after Saturday, Alex Pereira-style.

Nickal has looked sensational so far in his three professional fights, finishing everyone in one minute or less. He faces Jamie Pickett on Saturday.

Can “No Love” bounce back?

The fall of Cody Garbrandt has been steep.

You can make an argument that “No Love” has the most to lose this weekend … the biggest being his job. Garbrandt has won only one fight in six years (a knockout of Raphael Assuncao) and he has been finished in four of his five losses.

While to the casual eye the future might look dark for Garbrandt, the former champion has changed some things around. The 31-year-old is now training in Las Vegas and has split time between Xtreme Couture, Dewey Cooper, and using UFC’s Performance Institute. With a new environment and new training partners, he could return to his winning ways.

Garbrandt fights Trevin Jones in the featured “Prelims” bout.

UFC 182

Garbrandt made his UFC debut on another Jones card, which was UFC 182: “Jones vs. Cormier.”

Other Basharat Bro

Farid Basharat makes his debut six months after winning a contract on Contender Series when he defeated Allan Begosso. He is the younger brother of Javid Basharat, who has been very dominant in his UFC run thus far and has a lot of hype. While there have been several sets of brothers in UFC, the Basharat brothers have a chance to really leave a mark in the promotion.

Welcome To UFC!

Four fighters are making their debuts at UFC 285:

• Nickal (3-0) fights Jamie Pickett
• Basharat (9-0) takes on Da’Mon Blackshear
• Esteban Ribovics (11-0) takes on fellow Octagon newcomer Loik Radzhabov (16-4-1)

Tajikistan, You Got Another One

Speaking of Radzhabov, he is now the second Tajikistani fighter in the UFC. The other fighter from that country, Nurullo Aliev, fought last week at UFC Vegas 70, and it was quite the scene.

Radzhabov is a two-time PFL lightweight finalist.

Undefeated Mania

There are six undefeated fighters competing at UFC 285. Check them out below:

• Shavkat Rakhmonov (16-0)
• Esteban (11-0)
• Ian Garry (10-0)
• Basharat (9-0)
• Cameron Saaiman (7-0)
• Nickal (3-0)

Big Faves

UFC 285 is loaded with big favorites and big underdogs. According to Draftkings, here are the odds:

Rakmonov -500
Neal +400

Nickal -1400
Pickett +800

Shevchenko -600
Grasso +450

Garry – 750
Kenan Song +500

Basharat -410
Blackshear +330

First fight in front of a sold-out arena

It is insane to think about, but there are still fighters on the UFC roster that have yet to fight in front of a sold-out crowd. It is no secret that fighters love to fight in front of people, and it really adds to their experience, and to some, it adds to their performance.

Besides the fighters that are debuting, Rakhmonov and Strawweight Tabatha Ricci will be fighting in front of their first true UFC crowd.

Wins And Losses

Sixteen fighters are coming off wins, while 11 are coming off losses. One fighter is coming off a draw (Da’mon Blackshear).

Divisions

Here are the divisions that will be on display on Saturday:

• One Heavyweight fight
• Three Middleweight fights
• Two Welterweight fights
• Two Lightweight fights
• Three Bantamweight fights
• Two Women’s Flyweight fights
• One Strawweight fight

South Africans, Together Again

UFC 285 will mark the second card in a row that Dricus Du Plessis and Cameron Saaiman will fight together. The first was UFC 282, where they both picked up victories. Du Plessis and Saaiman have been close friends since Saaiman was an amateur and fought on regional shows back in South Africa.

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 285 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 285: “Jones vs. Gane” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 285 fight card and PPV lineup click here.