Jon Jones is officially a heavyweight.
The longtime light heavyweight champion weighed in at 248 pounds at Friday’s official weigh-ins for UFC 285, where he battles Ciryl Gane for a vacant title in Saturday’s main event. Gane came in slightly lighter at 247. 5 pounds.
This marks Jones’ first time weighing in at the heavyweight limit after a storied run in the 205-pound division and a decade of speculation over a potential change of divisions. Jones fights for the first time since February 2020.
Heavyweight contender Sergei Pavlovich successfully weighed in as an alternate for the main event, tipping the scales at 259 pounds.
In the co-main event, flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko goes for her eighth straight title defense when she fights Alexa Grasso. Both fighters successfully weighed in under the limit at 124. 5 pounds.
Friday’s weigh-ins saw a couple of blips including a major one as welterweight contender Geoff Neal badly missed weight, coming in at 175 pounds (four pounds over the welterweight limit, including the one-pound allowance for non-title bouts) for his main card bout opposite Shavkat Rakhmonov.
The bout will proceed as a catchweight, with Neal forfeiting 30 percent of his purse as penalty.
One other fighter missed weight, bantamweight Leomana Martinez. He came in at 137 pounds, one pound over the limit for his fight with Cameron Saaiman. That bout will proceed at a catchweight with Martinez forfeiting 30 percent of his purse as penalty.
See the UFC 285 official weigh-in results below.
Main Card (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET)
Jon Jones (248) vs. Ciryl Gane (247. 5)
Valentina Shevchenko (124. 5) vs. Alexa Grasso (124. 5)
Geoff Neal (175)* vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov (171)
Mateusz Gamrot (156) vs. Jalin Turner (155. 5)
Bo Nickal (185. 5) vs. Jamie Pickett (186)
Preliminary Card (ESPNews/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET)
Cody Garbrandt (136) vs. Trevin Jones (135)
Derek Brunson (185. 5) vs. Dricus Du Plessis (185)
Viviane Araujo (126) vs. Amanda Ribas (126)
Julian Marquez (186) vs. Marc-Andre Barriault (185)
Early Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+ at 5:30 p.m. ET)
Ian Machado Garry (171) vs. Song Kenan (171)
Cameron Saaiman (135) vs. Leomana Martinez (137)**
Jessica Penne (116) vs. Tabatha Ricci (115. 5)
Da’Mon Blackshear (136) vs. Farid Basharat (136)
Esteban Ribovics (156) vs. Loik Radzhabov (155. 5)
Sergei Pavlovich (259)***
*Neal was four pounds short of the limit for welterweight. His bout with Shavkat Rakhmonov will proceed as a catchweight with Neal forfeiting 30 percent of his purse as penalty
**Martinez was one pound short of the bantamweight limit. His bout with Cameron Saaiman will proceed as a catchweight with Martinez forfeiting 30 percent of his purse as penalty
***Pavlovich was an alternative to the main event
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/3/3/23623811/ufc-285-weigh-in-results-jon-jones-hits-248-pounds-heavyweight-debut-geoff-neal-misses-by-4-pounds?rand=96749
