UFC 285 Stats: Jon Jones scores fastest title fight finish in nearly two years

Jon Jones wins UFC heavyweight title with his first submission win since 2012

One would have to go back to April 2021 to find a UFC title fight that ended faster than the main event of Saturday’s UFC 285 card. That 2021 matchup saw Rose Namajunas take the women’s strawweight title from Zhang Weili via a well-timed head kick. Saturday’s title tilt saw former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones capture the vacant UFC heavyweight belt via a guillotine choke submission at 2:04 of the first stanza. Jones forced ex-interim heavyweight titleholder Ciryl Gane to tap to that technique.

Jones, who had not fought since he defended his light heavyweight crown with a decision win over Dominick Reyes in February 2020, absorbed six significant strikes and scored two takedowns before securing his first submission victory since he stopped Vitor Belfort in 2012.

In the evening’s co-main event, Alexa Grasso ended the four-plus year flyweight title reign of Valentina Shevchenko with a submission in the fourth round after quickly taking Shevchenko’s back after her opponent failed to land a spinning back kick.

Earlier on the pay-per-view card, Shavkat Rakhmonov moved his UFC record to 5-0 with a third-round submission win over Geoff Neal. With the win, Rakhmonov entered his name in the UFC record books, becoming the first welterweight in the promotion’s history to begin his career with five straight stoppage wins.

Below, we take a deep dive into the stats from the event. UFC 284’s main card streamed on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and early prelims on ESPN+.

Total Fights: 14

Unanimous Decisions: 4

Split Decision: 1

Majority Decision: 1

KOs/TKOs: 3

Submissions: 5

Fights by Weight Division

Heavyweight: 1

Middleweight: 3

Welterweight: 2

Lightweight: 2

Bantamweight: 3

Women’s Flyweight: 2

Women’s Strawweight: 1

Total Knockdowns Landed: 6

Total Submission Attempts: 13

Total Reversals: 3

Total Significant Strikes Attempted: 3,040

Total Significant Strikes Landed: 1,510

Total Significant Head Strikes Attempted: 2,381

Total Significant Head Strikes Landed: 985

Total Significant Body Strikes Attempted: 381

Total Significant Body Strikes Landed: 295

Total Significant Leg Strikes Attempted: 278

Total Significant Leg Strikes Landed: 230

Total Significant Distance Strikes Attempted: 2,626

Total Significant Distance Strikes Landed: 1,208

Total Significant Clinch Strikes Attempted: 254

Total Significant Clinch Strikes Landed: 173

Total Significant Ground Strikes Attempted: 160

Total Significant Ground Strikes Landed: 129

Total Strikes Attempted: 3,861

Total Strikes Landed: 2,228

Total Takedowns Attempted: 87

Total Takedowns Landed: 40

Shortest Five-Round Fight: Jon Jones submits Ciryl Gane at 2:04 of Round 1 via guillotine choke.

Shortest Three-Round Fight: Bo Nickal submits Jamie Pickett at 2:54 of Round 1 via arm-triangle choke.

Latest Finish in a Five-Round Fight: Alexa Grasso submits Valentina Shevchenko at 4:43 of Round 4 via rear-naked choke.

Latest Finish in a Three-Round Fight: Ian Garry TKOs Song Kenan at 4:22 of Round 3 via punches to head on ground.

Most Takedowns Landed: Loik Radzhabov lands 11 takedowns on 21 attempts vs. Esteban Ribovics.

Most Submission Attempts: Two fighters with two submission attempts: Bo Nickal and Viviane Araujo.

Most Knockdowns Landed: Six fighters with one knockdown: Jalin Turner, Dricus Du Plessis, Ian Garry, Song Kenan, Cameron Saaiman and Estaban Ribovics.

Most Significant Strikes Landed in a Three-Round Fight: Ian Garry lands 127 significant strikes on 231 attempts vs. Song Kenan.

New records from UFC 285:

Shavkat Rakhmonov became the first UFC welterweight to open his run with the promotion with five straight finishes.