The UFC has announced their broadcast team for UFC 285.
Daniel Cormier is joining the broadcast for Jon Jones’ return.
Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie reports that Jones’ former foe will provide play-by-play commentary alongside Jon Anik and Joe Rogan, who returns to the booth after sitting out on the two previous pay-per-view events, UFC 283 and UFC 284, respectively.
The Octagon announcer is Bruce Buffer, who fires up the audience with his fighter introductions. And the roving reporter is Megan Olivi, the promotion staple who provides extra coverage such as pre- and post-fight interviews.
Rounding out the broadcast team are two more of Jones’ former foes in Anthony Smith and Rashad Evans, who are expected to serve as desk analysts throughout the night.
For his first Octagon appearance in three years, Jones moves up from light heavyweight to heavyweight against Ciryl Gane for the vacant championship in the headliner of UFC 285. Prior to his hiatus, ‘Bones’ successfully defended the 205-pound title with a unanimous decision over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in Feb. 2020. After suffering his first professional loss to Francis Ngannou, Gane recently returned to the win column with a third-round TKO of Tai Tuivasa at UFC Paris this past September.
In the co-headliner, reigning flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko goes for her eighth defense against No. 6 ranked contender Alexa Grasso.
When is UFC 285?
UFC 285 goes down on Sat., March 4, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. The early preliminary portion of the event begins at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m PT on ESPN+, followed by the ESPN prelims at 8:00 p.m ET/5:00 p.m. PT. The ESPN+ PPV portion starts at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for all your fight coverage this week.
About the author: Kristen King is a writer for Bloody Elbow. She has covered combat sports since 2016. (full bio)