5 biggest questions ahead of Jon Jones' UFC return

Your eyes are not deceiving you: The first Jon Jones fight since 2020 - and his heavyweight debut - is upon us.

After spending three years on the sidelines, the former UFC light heavyweight champion returns to the Octagon on Saturday to fight for hardware in a second division. In the UFC 285 main event, Jones will take on Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight title in a bid to become the eighth two-division champion in UFC history.

Here are our five biggest questions leading up to Jones' long-awaited, highly anticipated return.

How will Jones adapt to fighting bigger guys?

Jones is used to being the bigger fighter. He is 6-foot-4 and boasts an 84.5-inch reach. No fighter has held a reach advantage over him in the UFC.

Generally speaking, Jones puts on better performances when his size comes into play. He dominated the likes of Daniel Cormier, Rashad Evans, and Chael Sonnen. But against bigger guys such as Dominick Reyes, Alexander Gustafsson (at least in their first fight), and Ovince Saint Preux, Jones wasn't quite as impressive.

While Jones will still have the reach advantage on Saturday, Gane owns the longest reach of any Jones opponent, coming in at 81.5 inches, which tops Saint Preux at 80.

Heavyweight is a completely different animal than light heavyweight, and Gane is a real heavyweight - he also stands 6-foot-4 and has weighed just under 250 pounds for most of his UFC bouts. Jones' physicality won't play as much of a role against Gane and any other heavyweight he faces down the road, and he could find it difficult to adjust to that.

Is Jones still a championship-caliber fighter?

Even before Jones' hiatus, it had been a while since the former pound-for-pound king looked like the best fighter in the world. Many thought Reyes did enough to win in February 2020; Thiago Santos became the first to win a scorecard against Jones in July 2019; and even Jones' lopsided win over Anthony Smith earlier that year was underwhelming.

Fast forward three years, Jones is 35 years old and not getting any younger. Perhaps even more relevant is that he's been fighting professionally since 2008, as he turned pro when he was just 20 years old. That's almost 15 years ago. Sure, Jones hasn't taken much damage compared to almost everyone else with his experience, but that's still a lot of miles on the body.

At one point, Jones was so good that it's hard to envision him ever looking "bad," even if it's clear he's not at the top of his game. But after such a long layoff, it's not a guarantee that he still has what it takes to contend with the very best, particularly at heavyweight. We'll find out very quickly where Jones is at when the Gane fight begins.

How big of a deal is Jones' return for the UFC?

Pretty big. Jones, although not on the same level of mainstream stardom as Conor McGregor, is one of the biggest draws in the UFC and has been for years. The UFC will always prefer to have Jones active rather than away from the sport.

But that could be especially true in this day and age, as the promotion has seemingly put a bigger focus on loading up its pay-per-view events to ensure high buy rates and neglected many of its free Fight Night cards. Some of the pay-per-view events in 2022 lacked star power with McGregor and Jones not competing, so Jones will be a welcome addition to the UFC's rotation of pay-per-view headliners for 2023 and beyond.

What will it take for Jones to be the world's best heavyweight?

A decade in the making, Jones is finally fighting for the UFC heavyweight title. But in a bizarre, somewhat anticlimactic way, even with a win over Gane, almost no one will consider him the best heavyweight in the world.

That distinction goes to Francis Ngannou, the former heavyweight champ who left the promotion in January as a free agent. Ngannou beat Gane in a January 2022 title defense and is the undisputed baddest man on the planet, having beaten the likes of Gane, Stipe Miocic, Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez, and Junior dos Santos in the last four-plus years.

If Jones dominates or finishes Gane, some may rank him No. 1 ahead of Ngannou, because comparatively, Ngannou defeated Gane in a competitive unanimous decision. But that still doesn't seem fair given Ngannou's other recent accomplishments at heavyweight.

If Ngannou steps away from MMA for a while (whether that means he goes to boxing or does something entirely different), and if Jones racks up a few title defenses, then perhaps Jones would become the top heavyweight. But for now, Ngannou is No. 1 and he still will be after Saturday.

Will Jones be the GOAT with a win?

Jones has said going into UFC 285 that he believes a win over Gane would solidify him as the greatest MMA fighter of all time. And UFC president Dana White is already calling Jones the GOAT - but that might just be White doing his job.

If Jones was fighting Ngannou, it would be easier to say yes, he would be the GOAT with a victory. But because Gane is the second- or third-best heavyweight in the world, it's a tougher conversation.

Here's what we'll say: Even if you do think Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, or anyone else is the GOAT - which is totally fair - Jones would likely surpass them all if he beats Gane and then defends the UFC heavyweight belt once or twice.