Jon Jones vs Ciryl Gane LIVE: Stream, latest updates and how to ...

Who has the hardest job in the UFC?

You could argue that there are just shy of 600 correct answers to that question, with the name of any fighter who steps foot in the Octagon a valid response. Jon Anik, Megan Olivi and Brendan Fitzgerald wouldn’t dare to dispute that notion, but the truth is that all three of them – as part of the UFC’s wider broadcast team – are subject to a similar level of scrutiny and pressure to their colleagues on the other side of the Octagon fence.

Play-by-play commentators Anik and Fitzgerald provide vital layers to the soundtrack of the in-ring action on their respective nights on the job, their contributions for the viewers at home filling the space between the noise of the crowd and the sound of shins colliding. Olivi, meanwhile, is a reporter and host whose face is as familiar on UFC broadcasts as Anik and Fitzgerald’s voices are. She is the go-to go-between in the connection of fans and fighters, tasked with asking UFC’s roster members questions whether they are radiating in the glow of triumph or dwelling in the mire of defeat. She is also married to UFC flyweight contender Joseph Benavidez, so knows what goes through a fighter’s mind on fight week as well as anyone.

All four spend a significant amount of their time in front of cameras with microphones in hand, enlightening fans on what is unfolding in the cage. They also take great pride in exploring who it really is that is on the end – either end – of a hurtling first or elbow for the entertainment of thousands in arenas and on couches.

Below, however, Anik, Olivi and Fitzgerald allow The Independent to shed some light on who they really are, and on what they do to bring UFC broadcasts to life every weekend.

Alex Pattle5 March 2023 00:00

Take a look at The Independent’s pound-for-pound UFC rankings.

Where will Jon Jones sit in this list if he wins tonight?

And should Gane enter our rankings if he beats Jones?

Alex Pattle4 March 2023 23:30

The early prelims will begin at 11.15pm GMT (3.15pm PT, 5.15pm CT, 6.15pm ET), with the prelims following at 1am GMT (5pm PT, 7pm CT, 8pm ET tonight).

The main card is then scheduled for 3am GMT (7pm PT, 9pm CT, 10pm ET tonight).

The Independent will provide live updates from the prelims at 1am GMT through to the very end of UFC 285, and we will recap the early prelim results once our live coverage begins.

Alex Pattle4 March 2023 23:00

“Jon Jones does not know what it’s like to lose – not in the Octagon, and not outside of it.

“It may seem a strange thing to say about a man has one loss on his record, who has twice lost a UFC title, and who has repeatedly lost control to the point of being arrested several times, and yet the point stands.

“Jones’ sole loss in mixed martial arts came courtesy of a controversial disqualification for the use of illegal elbows. His two title losses saw the light-heavyweight belt taken from him not by an opponent but by the UFC, due to an arrest and a failed drug test respectively. And any time the 35-year-old has found himself in handcuffs and a jail cell, it has not been long before he has traded them for 4oz gloves and a gym.”

Read our UFC 285 main-event preview in full:

Alex Pattle4 March 2023 22:45

Subject to any last-minute changes (like when last week’s Fight Night main event collapsed on about an hour’s notice!), here is the UFC 285 card in full:

Main card

Jon Jones vs Ciryl Gane (vacant heavyweight title)

Valentina Shevchenko (C) vs Alexa Grasso (women’s flyweight title)

Geoff Neal vs Shavkat Rakhmonov (welterweight)

Mateusz Gamrot vs Jalin Turner (lightweight)

Bo Nickal vs Jamie Pickett (middleweight)

Prelims

Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt looks to get back to winning ways

(Getty Images)

Cody Garbrandt vs Trevin Jones (bantamweight)

Derek Brunson vs Dricus Du Plessis (middleweight)

Viviane Araujo vs Amanda Ribas (women’s flyweight)

Julian Marquez vs Marc-Andre Barriault (middleweight)

Early prelims

Ian Machado Garry vs Song Kenan (welterweight)

Mana Martinez vs Cameron Saaiman (bantamweight)

Jessica Penne vs Tabatha Ricci (women’s strawweight)

Da’Mon Blackshear vs Farid Basharat (bantamweight)

Kamuela Kirk vs Esteban Ribovics (lightweight)

Alex Pattle4 March 2023 22:20

Atop a stacked card at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, former two-time light-heavyweight champion Jones returns after a three-year absence, finally moving up to heavyweight. Two months after Francis Ngannou relinquished the title, it is on the line as American Jones faces Frenchman Gane, who previously held the interim belt.

In the co-main event, Shevchenko looks to continue her dominant reign at flyweight as she defends the gold against Mexican Grasso, and there are more intriguing bouts before that.

Rising welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov looks to improve his perfect 16-0 record – which consists of eight KOs and eight submissions – as he faces Geoff Neal, and middleweight prospect Bo Nickal takes on Jamie Pickett. Furthermore, Mateusz Gamrot and Jalin Turner clash in a highly-anticipated lightweight bout, and former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt features, as do veteran Derek Brunson and promising Irishman Ian Machado Garry.

Alex Pattle4 March 2023 21:54