Jon Jones has officially followed in Daniel Cormier’s footsteps.

UFC 285 won’t soon be forgotten after two new champions were crowned this past Saturday. After three long years away from the octagon, the former two-time light heavyweight champion and all-time great Jones returned, looking possibly better than ever. The man known as “Bones” made his long-awaited heavyweight debut, wasting no time and submitting Ciryl Gane via a first-round guillotine in only two minutes and four seconds.

Jones, like his old rival Cormier, has now held UFC gold in two weight classes and never had any doubt that would be his reality come the end of UFC 285. Despite being on better terms with each other now, Cormier was still surprised like most by how easy Jones made things look in his octagon return.

“Jon Jones is the heavyweight champion of the world in a way that not many expected,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “All week Jon Jones spoke about how easy this fight could be and nobody wanted to believe it. I know I didn’t. I thought he was in for it to the point that at the fighter meeting when Jon Jones was on the phone, I said, ‘Hey, I got one question for you. Just speaking about fear, you said you needed that. Does Ciryl Gane present that fear?’

“He had an answer that was still almost dismissive of Ciryl Gane and I didn’t understand it. I figured he was chasing challenges to elevate himself to the next level. Well, he goes out there and dominates in a way that tells me that everything he said he believed from the very start and he just did it.”

A low blow nine seconds into the clash was the only significant shot dealt to Jones from Gane. In the wake of things, the next step is clear as the champion called for heavyweight’s arguable all-time best fighter Stipe Miocic and UFC President Dana White says that’s the plan next.

As impressive as Jones was, it wasn’t much time to get his feet back under himself and the legend admitted such in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. In the case of Cormier, he went down in weight and then back up to become a dual-division champion. For Jones, he bulked up and is seemingly still adjusting to his new body, but still as dangerous as ever.

“Jones doesn’t look like the same guy in the octagon,” Cormier said. “He’s a tad bit slower, his movements aren’t as quick and dynamic, but that’s what you expect for a guy that puts on that much weight. But when he went out there he seemed to be having a good time.

“Hats off to Jon Jones for doing something he said he was going to do by winning the fight. Not only winning the fight, winning the fight impressively.”

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TOP STORIES

Aftermath. UFC 285 takeaways: Jon Jones puts the GOAT debate to rest for now

Confident. Stipe Miocic reacts to Jon Jones winning heavyweight title at UFC 285: ‘I’m going to beat that ass’

Reaction. Dana White in awe of Jon Jones performance at UFC 285: He treated Ciryl Gane ‘like he was a little kid’

Rude. Jon Jones gives profane response to Francis Ngannou’s post-UFC 285 ‘heavyweight king’ tweet

Comeback. ‘Bones is back!!!‘: Fighters react to Jon Jones’ quick submission of Ciryl Gane at UFC 285

Boxing. Ex-NFL star Le’Veon Bell to fight JMX at Misfits Boxing 6 on April 21

List. Full TUF 31 cast revealed, featuring Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler as coaches

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VIDEO STEW

UFC 285 Post-Fight Show.

On to the Next One.

UFC 285 Post-Fight Press Conference.

Free fight.

UFC 286 Trailer.

RIZIN Landmark 5 hype.

The rise of Shavkat.

285 reactions.

O’Malley’s debut.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Crazy times.

IFW?

Hands of Steel.

Poor Jed.

House of the road.

Champ.

Swang and bang.

Indeed.

Conor.

Mexico!

Seconded.

Beef.

Champ to champ.

Wild one.

Sexy.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Julian Erosa (28-11) vs. Fernando Padilla (14-4); UFC Vegas 72, April 29

Jessica Andrade (24-10) vs. Yan Xiaonan (16-3); UFC 288, May 6

Kai Asakura (19-4) vs. Yuki Motoya (33-10); RIZIN 42, May 6

Naoki Inoue (16-3) vs. Juan Archuleta (27-4); RIZIN 42, May 6

Roberto “Satoshi” de Souza (14-2) vs. Spike Carlyle (14-4); RIZIN 42, May 6

Seika Izawa (9-0) vs. Miyuu Yamamoto (6-7); RIZIN 42, May 6

Ulka Sasaki (23-10-2) vs. Boyd Allen (16-5-1); RIZIN 42, May 6

John Dodson (23-13) vs. Tatsuki Saomoto (18-2); RIZIN 42, May 6

Yuki Ito (13-4) vs. Erson Yamamoto (3-5); RIZIN 42, May 6

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FINAL THOUGHTS

I am still in disbelief over both title wins this past weekend... This sport is just too much sometimes, man.

Thanks for reading!

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POLL POSITION

Last Week’s Results:

Friday: 89% of 441 total votes answered “Valentina Shevchenko” when asked, “Who wins tomorrow?” Alexa Grasso defeated Shevchenko via fourth-round submission (rear-naked choke) in the UFC 285 co-main event.

Thursday: 61% of 321 total votes answered “Mateuz Gamrot” when asked, “Who wins this weekend?” Gamrot defeated Jalin Turner via split decision at UFC 285.

Wednesday: 62% of 601 total votes answered “Jon Jones” when asked, “Who wins this weekend?” Jones defeated Ciryl Gane via first-round submission (guillotine) in the UFC 285 main event.

Tuesday: 67% of 665 total votes answered “No” when asked, “Should Paddy Pimblett’s next fight be a rematch with Jared Gordon?” Pimblett defeated Gordon via unanimous decision in the UFC 282 co-main event.

Monday: 71% of 452 total votes answered “Tommy Fury” when asked, “Who wins the rematch?” Fury defeated Jake Paul via split decision in their Feb. 26 boxing match.

Today’s exit poll:

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