UFC 285 rundown: For first time in a while, Jones made it look easy

Jon Jones captured the vacant UFC heavyweight title Saturday night, defeating Ciryl Gane by first-round submission in the UFC 285 main event in Las Vegas.

In the co-main event, Alexa Grasso shocked the world by choking out Valentina Shevchenko to become the new women's flyweight champion. Also on the card, Shavkat Rakhmonov earned the biggest win of his career in a slugfest with Geoff Neal, and Bo Nickal shined in his highly anticipated Octagon debut.

Here are three takeaways from the pay-per-view event.

So much for a declining Jon Jones

Everyone knows Jones didn't look like himself in his final 205-pound title defenses. He didn't look like the guy who rained terror on his fellow light heavyweights for over a decade; sat levels above his peers in skill, athleticism, and fight IQ; and made the legends of the sport look like amateurs. Back in the day, Jones was one of the most violent, merciless fighters in the UFC. The image of an unconscious Lyoto Machida collapsing to the canvas is still haunting. However, in Jones' most recent fights, he was more reserved, more tactical, less dangerous, and, frankly, not as good.

There were two ways to look at it: Either Jones lacked motivation because he was having to defend his title against lesser names, or he was regressing as a fighter.

Apparently it wasn't the latter.

For the first time in a long time, Jones looked like the guy who set numerous records and established himself as an all-time great. We only saw 2 minutes, 4 seconds of work from Jones in his first fight since February 2020, but that was enough time to get Gane on the mat, take his back, move to full mount, and tap him out with a guillotine choke. Gane landed just six significant strikes before becoming victim No. 27. It was a flawless victory for Jones. It was a demolition. The fight was never close, not even for a second. It's honestly shocking just how easy Jones made it look.

He definitely answered some of the questions we had going into the fight. Jones is no doubt a real heavyweight. He weighed in at 248 pounds and then manhandled the No. 1 contender in the UFC heavyweight division like it was nothing. He will be able to match the physicality of anyone in the division. Ring rust didn't seem to affect Jones after not competing for more than three years. There was no slow start, but rather the complete opposite. However, because of how quickly he beat Gane, some questions went unanswered. (And yes, if you're Jones, this is a pretty good problem to have.)

What happens if his next opponent, former two-time heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, takes him into deep waters? Will Jones' gas tank hold up as well as it did at 205 pounds? Will the extra weight make him sluggish in the championship rounds? We still don't know for sure.

Then again, none of that will matter if Jones is able to replicate Saturday's performance when he faces Miocic and anyone else. He said he plans to use his ground game more often, and that signals trouble for the rest of the heavyweight division. Even though Jones focused on his kickboxing for years, he's at his absolute best when he's on top landing ground-and-pound and looking for submissions. Maybe, just maybe, this latest chapter of Jones' storied career will the most dominant one yet.

Who's the real No. 1 heavyweight?

The UFC machine did a good job of completely cutting off Francis Ngannou after he ran off as the reigning heavyweight champion earlier this year to test free agency.

Ngannou wasn't mentioned on the "Countdown" video for Jones-Gane (despite having ties to both fighters and casting somewhat of a shadow over their vacant title bout); fight week was centered around Jones' return (which makes sense); and Ngannou's name was only dropped a couple times toward the end of Saturday's pay-per-view broadcast. UFC president Dana White took subtle jabs at Ngannou whenever possible, saying he would never be back in the UFC, pushing the narrative that he didn't want to fight Jones, and predicting that Jones would have still scored a dominant victory if it was Ngannou in front of him.

The UFC wants you to forget that Ngannou exists, but doing so is easier said than done. The knockout wins over Miocic, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, Curtis Blaydes, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. The gusty performance against Gane on one knee. The ability to bounce back from an uninspiring two-fight skid in 2018 to eventually become the baddest man on the planet. "The Predator" is unforgettable, and he's still the No. 1 heavyweight in the world.

That said, Jones' win over Gane was as convincing an argument as it could've been that he should leapfrog Ngannou - or at least could in the foreseeable future. It took Ngannou five hard-fought rounds to beat Gane, and Jones became the first person to finish Gane in wickedly impressive fashion. Based on merit, Ngannou keeps the No. 1 position. He didn't lose the title in the Octagon, and if Jones had defeated Gane when Ngannou was still in the UFC, Jones wouldn't have jumped ahead of him.

But Jones would likely be favored to beat Ngannou in the betting odds, and now it's on Ngannou to defend his No. 1 spot. If Jones racks up a few title defenses, and if Ngannou fights low-level competition or doesn't fight in MMA at all, it'll only make sense to consider "Bones" the best heavyweight in the world after a certain amount of time.

Shevchenko era could be over for good

Grasso, by pulling off one of the biggest upsets in UFC championship history, put an end to the Valentina Shevchenko era - at least for now. But maybe for good.

As MMA Fighting's Shaun Al-Shatti was quick to point out on Twitter after the fight, Shevchenko has been a professional MMA fighter since April 2003. She's coming up on two decades of training and fighting. But because she didn't make her UFC debut and become known to the North American MMA audience until 2015, most don't realize how long Shevchenko has been around.

Sure, she hasn't taken much damage throughout her Hall of Fame career - one of her opponents winning a round during her UFC title reign was thought to be impressive - but that's still a lot of fight miles for anyone. At 34 years old, it's possible Shevchenko has lost a step.

It's true that she was beating Grasso on the scorecards by a 2-1 margin going into that fateful fourth round, but her fights have gotten a lot more competitive recently. In fact, many believed Taila Santos did enough to beat her last June. Don't be surprised if this is a trend, rather than Grasso simply capitalizing on an ill-fated spinning back kick. Don't be surprised if Grasso proves her win was no fluke.

At the same time, don't be shocked either if Shevchenko comes back and regains the women's flyweight title. When you're as talented as she is, you don't always have to be at your best to be the best. Things just got a whole lot more interesting at 125 pounds.