With the month of February behind us, the UFC will turn to a loaded slate of March events, including two pay-per-view events and two very anticipated fight night cards.

Now, a look at the first event, which is stacked: Jon Jones will make his return to the octagon after three years in an attempt to claim the vacant heavyweight title. Across from him stands the last heavyweight title challenger and former interim champion Cyril Gane.

In the co-main event, the flyweight title will be up for grabs. Long reigning champion Valentina Shevchenko will look to make her eighth title defense vs Mexico’s own, the ever dangerous Alexa Grasso.

Valentina Shevchenko vs Alexa Grasso

On September 17th 2019, The Ultimate fighter season 26 winner Nicco Montano was officially stripped of her flyweight title after struggling to make weight for her first defense.

That December, Joanna Jędrzejczyk and Valentina Shevchenko clashed for the vacant title. After a hard fought battle, Shevchenko took the victory via decision and never looked back.

Five years and seven title defenses later, Shevchenko is back again to further her case as the greatest women’s fighter to step into the UFC octagon.

Standing in her path is the world’s sixth-ranked women’s flyweight, Mexico’s Alexa Grasso.

Grasso is riding a four-fight winning streak, including wins over Joanne Wood and Viviane Araujo from her last contest. Her striking has put her opponents on skates, and her grappling allows her to be unorthodox in her attacks.

Shevchenko has been incredibly successful as a champion, but her last outing against Taila Santos at UFC 275 showed a major flaw in her game: Effective grappling. Despite this, Shevchenko came away with the split decision win.

The key to success for both fighters is grappling. Because both fighters are on a similar level when it comes to striking, the grappling aspect will be the difference on who walks out of T-Mobile Arena as undisputed flyweight champion of the world.

With No. 3 ranked contender Erin Blanchfield waiting in the wings, this event has the chance to be the most meaningful and impactful Women’s Flyweight fight of all time.

No matter the victor, viewers are in for a treat.

Jon Jones vs Cyril Gane

In May of 2020, Jon Jones officially vacated the light heavyweight title and announced his next fight will be at heavyweight. Unfortunately, contract disputes kept Jones on the sideline for three years.

In that time, there was a changing of the guard in the heavyweight division. Veterans were brutalized by this new generation of fighters and the prospect to watch was Cameroon’s Francis Ngannou.

For a long time, Francis vs Jones was the fight to make. Unfortunately, a contract dispute ended Francis’s time in the UFC. However, in the wake of Ngannou’s absence from the Octagon, the Muay Tai phenomenon Cyril Gane rose.

The frenchman was just as impressive as Ngannou in terms of skill. While he didn’t have the flashy KO’s like Francis, his speed and movement made his opponents look like fools.

UFC 265 held his breakthrough moment, as he defeated Derrick Lewis to set up a unification bout with the champion Ngannou at UFC 270 in January of the following year.

Despite out-striking him on the feat, the wrestle-heavy game of Ngannou was the difference as he lost the unification bout via unanimous decision.

Later that year, Bon Gamin returned against an Australian tank riding a five-fight winning streak in Tai Tuivasa. Overcoming heavy and hard blows from Tuivasa, Gane rebounded and won via knockout in round three.

In January of 2023, Francis Ngannou was stripped of the heavyweight title and left the company. The UFC’s response was to book Jon Jones vs Cyril Gane for the vacant title, which brings us to the UFC 285 matchup.

Gane matches Jones in height and as history tells us, Jones has struggled against guys who have good boxing and match him in style (for example, Dominick Reyes and Alexander Gustafsson).

On paper, Gane has the chance to make this night a bad one for Jones. However, Jones holds superior wrestling, making him even scarier than your average superstar kickboxer.

The question remains: Is Jones the same guy? History may give us our answer.

The last time Jones came back from a two-year layoff was his interim title fight vs Ovince St Preux and, despite the win, his wrestling looked sluggish and stiff.

His wrestling has also deteriorated vastly. In his prime, he was out wrestling Daniel Cormier, but as of late, he’s struggled to take down Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes.

If Gane stuffs the takedown attempts from Jones, he’ll be in for a rough night. However, history tells us that out-wrestling Gane is the key to victory (for example, his fight with Francis Ngannou).

The biggest question mark of the entire fight lies with Jones. Will his weight gain make him more explosive and powerful, or will the jump to heavyweight cause him to be slow and sluggish?

Will Jones regress further against a man with a similar style, or will he hit an ever-rare second prime?

Will Gane finally get over the hump and earn the title of the baddest man on the planet?

All questions will be answered March 4th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.