In his highly anticipated heavyweight debut, Jon Jones proved that he is still one of the most dominant men in the UFC.
Despite concerns over his long layoff and the potential for ring rust, Jones looked sharper than ever as he dispatched Ciryl Gane in the first round of their main event clash at UFC 285.
The main event got off to a rocky start as Gane landed a low blow on Jones, causing a temporary halt in the action. However, Jones quickly regained his composure and established control of the center of the Octagon. He pressured Gane relentlessly, forcing the Frenchman to overextend and leaving him vulnerable to Jones’ world-class grappling skills.
After securing a perfectly timed takedown, Jones quickly took control. Despite Gane’s attempts to regain his footing, Jones’ grappling proved to be too much to handle. He quickly moved into a dominant position and locked in a tight guillotine choke, forcing Gane to submit just over two minutes into the first round.
With this victory, Jones wasted no time in setting his sights on his next opponent, former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. Speaking with Joe Rogan in the octagon interview, Jones made it clear that he is hungry for another shot at UFC gold.
As for the infamous “Drake Curse,” Jones proved that even superstitions can’t hold him back. Despite rapper Drake’s poor track record when it comes to UFC bets, Jones emerged victorious and even helped the Canadian star win a staggering $1.7 million from his $2.5 million wager.
Drake also lost the $250,000 he placed on Jones via knockout, but who’s counting?
Netizens were quick to praise Jones’ dominant performance. Some fans even noted that Jones managed to break multiple “curses” during his victory, including the “Drake Curse,” the “Chael Curse,” and the “UFC Embedded Haircut Curse.”
Dana White was quick to jump on the bandwagon and pile on Francis Ngannou comparing how Jones fared against Gane compared to Francis.
“I mean, to even compare Francis Ngannou or Cyril Gane to Jon Jones. It’s you can’t can’t even compare him to this guy. I he went in there and finished. I don’t know how you got I still can’t f***ing believe what I saw. how easy and how fast. And how simple he made that look. It’s it’s still blowing my mind. So it’s hard to even talk about him in any other heavyweights.” – White told media at the UFC 285 press conference.