UFC 284 and 285 - The BIGGEST fights in UFC history?

Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) company. As of 2022, it is the biggest MMA promotion in the world.  A mixed martial fighter from Australia named Alexander Volkanovski is the current UFC Featherweight Champion and competes in the Featherweight division of the UFC. He was formerly the Featherweight champion of the Australian Fighting Championship. Russian professional mixed martial artist and former Sambo competitor Islam Makhachev is the current UFC Lightweight Champion and competes in the Lightweight division of the UFC. American professional mixed martial artist Jonathan Jones is the current UFC Heavyweight Champion and is affiliated with the organisation. He previously held the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship twice, from December 2018 to August 2020 and from March 2011 to April 2015.     French professional mixed martial artist Ciryl Gane was formerly the Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion and currently competes in the UFC’s Heavyweight division. These four fighters - Volkanovski, Makhachev, Jones and Gane - were the main event fighters for UFC 284 and UFC 285, two events that were hotly anticipated for a number of different reasons amongst the fan base.

Let's take a look at UFC 284 first... 

The hype between Islam Makhachev and Alex Volkanovski being two of the biggest and best fighters in the UFC was a big impact for not only the athletes but the sport itself, so it was a big success, but Alex Volkanovski is an Australian fighter who had home advantage with fans as the event was held in Australia. The fight itself was incredibly close and could have gone anyway, but Makhachev won by decision, winning the fight (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)

UFC 285 was a big night for different reasons...  

The fight between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane was big due to Jon Jones going up a weight class and not having fought in 3 years! Ciryl Gane was a huge up and coming prospect from France who was 11-1 at the time of the fight, but since sits at 11-2 as he went on to suffer his second ever UFC defeat to Jones. A lot of people were worried for Jones that due to the drastic weight change he would be really slow and out of shape, especially with Ciryl Gane being one of the biggest fighters size-wise and the quickest in his division. However, the way Jon Jones beat him, and the ease he had just showed, proved how and why he is the best of all time.

The build up

The build up to the fights was BIG, both Alex Volkanovski and Islam Makhachev were the absolute top of the division, nothing and no one could stop them. Leading up to the fight the respect was mutual and nothing harsh was said, both Volk and Makhachev were confident in there abilities to not only win but destroy the other. They both wanted to prove that they are the best. After the fight the respect continued on, they still like each other and might fight again in the future. Depending on who you ask will depend on who won, Makhachev beat Volk by split decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) but some people think Volk won and that he deserved it more but it just comes down to who you ask. Me personally I think it could’ve gone either way as it did but I lean slightly towards Alexander Volkanovski. The build up to the Jon Jones vs Ciryl Gane fight wasn’t so similar as UFC 284 as Jon Jones was a light heavyweight transitioning to the heavyweight division, Ciryl Gane was a young, talented, quick, strong and aggressive fighter coming in from France, but being good made him lazy leading up to the fight, he didn’t do anywhere near as much training as he should’ve, although Jon Jones is considered one of if not the greatest of all time he still had a lot to prove in a lot of peoples eyes as Ciryl was at the top of his division and was much quicker for his weight compared to Jon Jones. Jones proved why people consider him the greatest beating Ciryl Gane by submission R1 02:04 but the respect is obviously there.

Would I say they were the biggest fights in UFC history, no I wouldn’t but they were good for the sport and the fighters, people were proven wrong, and people proved to themselves and others that they could do it. They were big but its up to you to decide how big they truly were.