Yes, you read right, Jon Jones is back. It’s a long time since Jones has fought in the UFC. Three years to be precise.
Believe it or not, Jones hasn’t fought since February 2020, when he won a controversial decision over light heavyweight challenger Dominick Reyes — a fight many experts believe he lost.
Jones’ latest fight, however, is not a light heavyweight title fight. It heralds Jones’ long-discussed move into the heavyweight division. For the first time ever, Jones isn’t fighting at 205 pounds. He has bulked up significantly and is taking on the big boys of the UFC.
His heavyweight debut is an absolute doozy. The UFC initially wanted Jones to fight UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, but after a contract dispute, Ngannou left the UFC, meaning Jones is now facing off against Ciryl Gane for the vacant UFC heavyweight championship.
How does that match-up shake out for Jones? It’s a tricky one to call. Jones is currently the better favourite, but the odds are tight. We have no idea how Jones will look at heavyweight. After a 3-year layoff, he has bulked up significantly in order to adapt to fighting bigger men. Will this make him stronger? Probably. Will this slow him down? Also probably.
Gane is an extremely difficult opponent. A savvy kickboxer, Gane is a different type of heavyweight striker. Instead of relying on knockout power, Gane is a technical kicker with great footwork and octagon awareness. Without saying too much, Jones has struggled against technical strikers who can match his size. (See his first fight with Alexander Gustafsson and his recent bout with Reyes.) Make no mistake, this is no tune-up match. Jones is going up against arguably his toughest match-up possible in his heavyweight debut. I, for one, can’t wait to see it.
But UFC 285 is a strong card from top to bottom. We’ve got Valentina Shevchenko defending her UFC flyweight title against slick boxer Alexa Grasso. Much-hyped middleweight prospect Bo Nickal is also on the undercard. Big names like Cody Garbrandt, Derek Brunson and Ian Garry are also competing on the night.
Here’s everything you need to know…
UFC 285 Start time
The UFC 285 main card starts at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) on March 4. Here are all the details from multiple time zones.
US
- The main card starts March 4, 10 p.m. EST (7 p.m. PST).
- The prelims start March 4, 8 p.m. EST (5 p.m. PST).
- The early prelims start March 4, 6:15 p.m. EST (3:15 p.m. PST).
UK
- The main card starts March 5, 3 a.m. GMT.
- The prelims start March 5, 1 a.m. GMT.
- The early prelims start March 4, 11:15 p.m. GMT.
Australia
- The main card starts March 5, 2 p.m. AEDT.
- The prelims start March 5, 12 p.m. AEDT.
- The early prelims start March 5, 10:15 a.m. AEDT.
Main Event start time
It’s hard to say exactly when the main event will take place, but if you’re looking to only watch Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane, you should jump on at 11.30 p.m EST (8.30 p.m. PST) to make sure you don’t miss out.
How to watch UFC 285
The UFC now has a partnership with ESPN. That’s great news for the UFC and the expansion of the sport of MMA, but bad news for consumer choice. Especially if you’re one of the UFC fans who want to watch UFC in the US.
In the US, if you want to watch UFC 285, you’ll only find the fight night on pay per view through ESPN Plus. The cost structure is a bit confusing, but here are the options to watch UFC on ESPN, according to ESPN’s site:
- Existing annual ESPN Plus subscribers can order the upcoming UFC card for $75.
- New ESPN Plus subscribers can buy a bundle of one UFC PPV event (streaming in HD) and an ESPN Plus annual recurring subscription for $100. This is a decent deal. The ESPN Plus annual ESPN subscription will auto-renew after one year, at the price of an ESPN Plus annual subscription at the time of auto-renewal.
You can do all of the above at the link below.
MMA fans in the UK can watch UFC 285 exclusively through BT Sport.
BT Sport has the rights to UFC PPVs in the UK.
There are more options if you live in Australia. You can watch UFC 285 through Main Event on Foxtel. You can also “:false,”numnodes”:1,”fireproductviewed”:false,”trackingdata”:{“asid”:””,”assetguid”:”db0ebeff-5b22-4fb5-89c2-09e91ccb1127″,”contype”:”review”,”desturl”:”https:\=”” \=”” mainevent.kayosports.com.au\=”” ufc\=”” ufc-276-adesanya-vs-cannonier”,”devicetype”:”desktop”,”ctype”:”cpc”,”iscreditcard”:false,”leadcpc”:””,”ltype”:”manual”,”merid”:””,”merchantname”:””,”pageid”:”db0ebeff-5b22-4fb5-89c2-09e91ccb1127″,”pagetype”:””,”pid”:””,”productid”:””,”rsid”:”cbsicnetglobalsite”,”siteid”:”1″,”text”:”stream=”” via=”” kayo=”” for=”” au$55″,”topic”:””,”ttag”:””,”searchdim”:”commerce-link”,”variant”:”commerce-link”,”viewguid”:””,”event”:””,”correlationid”:””,”_destcat”:”https:\=”” ufc-276-adesanya-vs-cannonier”,”formattype”:”link”,”location”:”links”,”sku”:””,”dwlinktag”:”commerce-link”}}”=”” section=”commerce-link” data-shortcode=”76-israel-adesanya-vs-jared-cannonier-start-time-how-to-watch-or-stream-online” rel=”nofollow” target=”_blank” data-link-text=”stream via Kayo for AU$55″ style=”outline: 0px; color: rgb(20, 20, 21); text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease 0s; box-shadow: rgb(231, 29, 29) 0px 2px 0px -1px; -webkit-box-decoration-break: clone;”>stream via Kayo for AU$55. You can even order using your PlayStation or using the UFC app on your Xbox. I usually buy direct from the UFC website.
You can check out the PPV on Kayo in Australia.
Need more international viewing options? Try a VPN to change your IP address to access those US, UK or Australian options listed above. See the best VPNs recommended by CNET editors.
UFC 285 fight card
Main card
- Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane
- Valentina Shevchenko vs. Alexa Grasso
- Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Geoff Neal
- Matuesz Gamrot vs. Jalin Turner
- Bo Nickal vs. Jamie Pickett
Prelims
- Cody Garbrandt vs. Trevin Jones
- Derek Brunson vs. Dricus du Plessis
- Viviane Araujo vs. Amanda Ribas
- Julian Marquez vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
Early prelims
- Ian Garry vs. Son Kenan
- Mana Martinez vs. Cameron Saaiman
- Jessica Penne vs. Tabatha Ricci
- Da’mon Blackshear vs. Farid Basharat
- Esteban Ribovics vs. Loik Radzhabov
