UFC 285 went down last night and it was an epic night of fights. Jon Jones made a triumphant return as a heavyweight and cemented his status as the greatest of all time with a lighting fast submission of France’s Cyril Gane. Alexa Grasso also shined as she used some beautiful jiu-jitsu to defeat Valentina Shevchenko who is in the conversation for women’s GOAT. Read on for Seattle Fights’ take on UFC 285.
Jon “Bones” Jones Leaves No Doubt Who is the Greatest
Jon Jones has been on the shelf for the last three years reshaping his body for a run at heavyweight. Some said Ciryl Gane would be a problem for Bones what with the Frenchman’s incredible striking and movement skills for a natural heavyweight. DC made the case on the broadcast for Gane pre-fight as a natural heavyweight who might prove too much for Jones. As much as I love DC one suspects DC might have been hoping for a Gane victory. But Jones made good on his promise to make finishing Gane look easy.
The fighters traded low leg kicks at the start of the fight before Gane accidentally kicked Jones in the groin. After a brief break for Jones to reset, Jones landed a nice left hand and followed by a good right hand. Jones commanded the center of the Octagon and pressured Gane. One minute into the fight and Jones grabbed a rear waist lock before dragging Gane to the ground. The massive Frenchman worked his way over to the cage where Jones then showed the disparity in the giants’ respective ground games. Gane briefly almost made his way back to the feet but the GOAT put him back on the ground before patiently working his way into position and then putting on the standing guillotine to produce the quick tap at 2:04 of the very first round.
After the fight Jones told Joe Rogan that he felt a bit awkward and uncomfortable on the feet. But it didn’t appear so as he suffered no damage and looked good with his limited number of strikes. Jones also said he wants Stipe Miocic next. I think Jones gets that one done relatively easily as well. Hopefully the UFC lines that one up for International Fight week in July.
Alexa Grasso Submits Bullet Shevchenko with Beautiful Jiu Jitsu
Alexa Grasso wrote the best type of MMA story on Saturday night. A heavy underdog, the charismatic Mexican showed no fear against the dominant Kyrgyzstani champion. Grasso closed as a +600 dog. But her Mexican fighting spirit, excellent boxing skills, and improved jiu-jitsu combined to take out an MMA icon in Shevchenko who was being talked about as the lady GOAT prior to the fight.
While both women had success in the striking department it was Grasso with some left hands in the first round that put Shevchenko on notice. A big 1-2 from Grasso drew a look of surprise from Shevchenko who had to have known she was in for a fight at that point. In Round 2, Shevchenko showed off excellent wrestling instincts as she took down Grasso with a well timed level change. On the ground, Shevchenko passed to side control. Shevchenko, however, did not do much damage from top position as Grasso defended well. Grasso used the fence to kick over and get the fight back to the feet. Late in Round 2, Shevchenko scored another takedown but with little time left was unable to do any real damage.
Grasso was getting the edge in the striking exchanges early in Round 3, before Shevchenko once more changed levels to take down the challenger. Shevchenko then was not doing enough work on the ground for referee Jason Herzog’s liking as he re-set the fight on the feet, drawing a rebuke from Joe Rogan as well as others around the interweb. I think it was a good standup, however as Shevchenko wasn’t being nearly as active as Rogan made it out on the broadcast. In any event, Shevchenko took Grasso back down and Grasso landed a kick to Shevchenko’s shoulder while both were on the ground that was dangerously close to a foul. In between rounds Grasso’s face looked a bit marked up and she appeared to be wearing a bit of damage.
The end came late in round four after Grasso looked for a takedown along the fence. Shevchenko missed a spinning back kick thus exposing her back and Grasso, who said she trained for and was looking for this opportunity in the fight, took advantage by displaying excellent movement and quickly taking the champion’s back and instantaneously throwing in the hooks. Grasso never got under the chin as it appeared she was looking for the RNC. The end came via a nasty neck crank, and with Shevchenko’s face turning red, the challenger produced the tap at 4:34 of Round 4.
Post-fight Shevchenko said she wants an immediate rematch because she knew she was winning the fight. It seemed to be a bit of sour apples though when she said that had she landed the spinning back kick that the fight would have been a different story. Well, she missed the kick and got finished and there is a new Flyweight Queen.
Grasso is a very marketable new champion for the UFC. She is always a treat to listen to in her interviews and should bring even more eyeballs and hopefully someday new MMA prospects from Mexico. The UFC will presumably do the immediate rematch which should set up for a very big fight.
Shavkat Rakhmonov Continues His Ascent Up the Welterweight Division
Close observers of the UFC have had their eye on Shavkat Rakhmonov for some time. His 16 finishes in 16 professional fights have marked him as a future title contender. After taking out talented veteran Geoff Neal in a great fight, make that 17 for 17 with finishes.
To be sure, Neal had his moments in this fight as he hurt Rakhmonov several times. But that only raised the stock of the brilliant Kazakh fighter. Rakhmonov has some of the best striking in the welterweight division but can also get it done with jiu-jitsu. Neal is about as tough as they come, however, and Rakhmonov had to keep battering away.
It looked as if getting the finish on the feet would be perhaps an insurmountable task. But it was a piston of a right hand that hurt Neal late in Round 4 that started the beginning of the end. Rakhmonov used slick grappling to finish the compromised Neal. It was a nasty standing rear naked choke that closed this one. Rakhmonov maneuvered his way to Neal’s back. After sneaking behind his foe, Rakhmonov applied the forearm under the chin and then deftly slid his left leg around to the front of Neal’s body before leaning back and applying massive leverage to produce the tap at 4:17 of Round 3. Rakhmonov called out Colby Covington post-fight if he doesn’t get the title shot next. Take my money for that one right now.
Mateusz Gamrot Is Game In Victory Over Jailin Turner
Jailin Turner is an outstanding young prospect in the UFC’s lightweight division with his rangy 6’3 frame and brought a 6.5” reach advantage against a contender in Mateusz Gamrot. And while Turner had success on the feet hurting Gamrot a couple of times, Gamrot was too much for the American prospect to handle on this night.
Gamrot should be commended for taking this fight on ten days notice against the dangerous Turner. Gamrot’s strategy was obvious as he would dart in with a big left hand and look for the takedown. Gamrot successfully controlled Turner when he took him down, but didn’t do a ton of damage from top position. Although his top control was impressive.
The turning point in this one came in Round 2 after Turner had Gamrot in big trouble with a banging right hook. With Gamrot hurt, he changed the trajectory of the fight after he caught a low kick and put Turner on his back and controlled the lanky American.
Gamrot after the fight said he was not happy with his performance. But he did what he had to do after taking the fight on such short notice. Asked what he’d like for his next fight in the post-fight interview with Bro Rogan, Gamrot called simply for a top 5 opponent next.
Bo Nickal Keeps Hype Train Rolling With Arm Triangle Choke Finish
Bo Nickal, one of the newest next big things in the UFC, took care of business against Jamie Pickett with the submission finish at 2:54 of Round 1. The result was expected with Nickal closing as a 1800 favorite. With all the hype surrounding the decorated collegiate wrestler it will be interesting to see if the UFC tries to build the Penn State Nittany Lion slowly or puts him on the fat track as the wrestler has called for.