When Jon Jones returns to the cage on Saturday to challenge Cyril Gane for the vacant UFC heavyweight championship, he will be coming off the longest layoff of his professional career.

It is shaping up as the most unique test of 35-year-old Jones' career, and a chance to strengthen his resume as arguably the greatest talent in the history of the promotion.

Standing at six-foot-four with a seven-foot wingspan, Jones was blessed in the genetic lottery with an enormous frame for his weight division, coming from a family where both of his brothers (Chandler and Arthur) were college football stars who secured decorated careers in the NFL. 

Instead of sticking with football, Jones wrestled in college, and he quickly combined those skills with his physical gifts to earn his UFC debut just five months after his first professional MMA fight at 20 years old.

Jones immediately emerged as a special talent in the light heavyweight ranks, which at the time was considered the most glamourous division in the company thanks to the legacy left behind by the era of Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture.

Less than three years after his first professional fight, Jones was given the chance to become the youngest champion in UFC history, and he took the opportunity with both hands.

He finished Hall-of-Famer Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua in the third round, claiming the belt at 23 years old – a record that may stand the test of time.

That was in 2011, and 12 years later the immortal Jones is still yet to legitimately lose a cage fight, with the only blemish on his record coming from an accidental disqualification in a fight he was dominating in every aspect.

But it is fair to say he has not looked truly impressive since his 2019 unanimous decision over Anthony Smith, with his two fights since both ending up unexpectedly close.

Jones was pushed to the limit by Thiago Santos, emerging with a split decision victory despite Santos suffering a serious knee injury early in the contest, and a number of pundits felt Jones actually should have lost his most recent decision against Dominick Reyes as he struggled against an opponent his own size.

After 15 consecutive wins in fights for the Light Heavyweight Championship, Jones took a hiatus as he continued to tease a potential heavyweight move – at one point supposedly against Brock Lesnar – and although many felt it may never eventuate, he is now set to try his hand at joining the short list of fighters to ever reach the mountaintop in two divisions.

A win this weekend would again spark conversations about the greatest fighter in UFC history, and could potentially narrow the discussion down to Jones and Khabib Nurmagomedov – who never won a second belt, but was also never threatened in his 29 unbeaten fights.

The only thing standing in his way is the conundrum of Gane – and perhaps Jones' own ego.

Jones' route to victory

While Jones is a terrific size for the heavyweight division, this will be the first time that he will fight someone taller, and likely heavier, than he is.

Size is not everything, but when that size is partnered by an elite skill set, it presents the most dangerous striking matchup of Jones' career.

Whenever Jones has been made to look uncomfortable in the cage, it has come from long strikers who mostly negate his physical advantages, namely Alexander Gustaffson, Santos and Reyes – but those experiences should provide the template of how to succeed.

Having only rematched against one of those three fighters who gave him serious trouble (Gustafsson), Jones showed exactly how he can make life miserable for a dangerous striker – wrestling.

One of only two fighters to ever take down Olympian Daniel Cormier in the cage, Jones' wrestling chops are legit, and it is reasonable to assume his skill in this department is at a level too great for the 32-year-old Gane to bridge at this stage in his career.

But Jones has always been an elite wrestler, and outside of a few occasions (rematch against Gustafsson, late against Anthony Smith), he has neglected to rely on it, showing a clear preference to keep things standing where he can show off his creative striking.

Jones never wants to appear 'afraid' to throw hands with his opponents, but that is exactly what Gane will be hoping.

Gane – who was an undefeated muay thai fighter before transitioning to MMA – has just one loss on his record, but it was a telling defeat.

It came in his first crack at the heavyweight championship against feared striker Francis Ngannou, who decided to expose Gane's lack of takedown defense and inability to get back to his feet, instead of giving the crowd the exciting back-and-forth stand-up war they anticipated.

Gane will have been obsessively preparing for those exact situations in the 14 months since, but the wrestling gap could become clear, and insurmountable, if Jones swallows his pride and comes out grappling in the opening minutes of their fight.

Gane's route to victory

First and foremost, Gane needs to stay on his feet, and his entire game plan needs to revolve around ensuring that is the case.

That means instead of trying to control the middle of the cage and dictate the pace, the smarter strategy is likely to play a more conservative style with his back closer to the fence. That way if a takedown is landed, he can use the cage to help himself back up, instead of being stranded in the centre of the octagon flat against the mat.

If he can turn this into a kickboxing match, Gane's chances skyrocket, as he possesses the size (six-foot-five) and length (six-foot-seven wingspan) to both hurt and put fear into Jones.

However, Gane runs into his own difficult conundrum in the striking arena, as he is still at a reach disadvantage and Jones has shown the ability to point-fight as well as anyone to ever step in the cage.

Gane's advantage will come in the power department, and the fact that his strikes will hurt Jones more than vice-versa, but to draw Jones into the kind of exchanges where he can do damage, he will have to put himself in a position where is risking being taken down.

A win for Gane would earn him not just the Heavyweight Championship, but the chance to be forever known as the one man who beat Jon Jones – and jumpstart his own legendary reign as king of the heavyweights.

Darren Till has confirmed UFC granted his release but vowed he is "not going anywhere".

Till last fought in December, losing via third-round submission to Dricus du Plessis.

He was removed from the middleweight rankings on Wednesday.

Posting on Twitter, the 30-year-old confirmed he had the release from UFC, in which he has fought since 2015.

"What's happening everyone," Till posted.

"Me, Dana [White] and Hunter [Campbell] are still cool as f***. I asked UFC to remove me just to sort some other s*** for the foreseeable.

"They happily agreed to release me out of contract which I appreciate. I'm not going anywhere, got big plans to execute and I'll be back."

Till was unbeaten in his first six fights before challenging Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title in September 2018. He lost via second-round submission and, following a knockout defeat to Jorge Masvidal, moved up to middleweight.

The English fighter won his first bout at the weight against Kelvin Gastelum but has since struggled, failing to win any of his last three fights, losing to Robert Whittaker and Derek Brunson prior to his most recent defeat against Du Plessis.

Islam Makhachev was able to see off the challenge of Alexander Volkanovski in the latter's home country as the Russian secured a unanimous decision to retain the lightweight title at UFC 284.

In front of an excitable crowd in Perth, Australia, both men put on a fine show in the main event as they also fought for the title of pound-for-pound best in the world.

Despite the unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46), it was an undeniably close fight, with Volkanovski getting some early shots in and denying the champion some takedowns.

After initially showing caution, Makhachev soon came to the party and eventually completed four of nine takedown attempts, and somewhat surprisingly bested his opponent in terms of total and significant strike percentage, though Volkanovski's volume was predictably higher.

"You like or you don't like, I am [the] best fighter in the world right now," Makhachev said after the win, much to the crowd's displeasure.

"I show why I'm No. 1. They have to improve more."

The Australian delighted his many fans in attendance with a late surge, but Makhachev had already done enough, particularly in the fourth round when he spent the vast majority of it on his opponent's back.

"He didn't respect my wrestling, grappling," Volkanovski said. "Maybe I didn't respect his striking enough, either. He landed some shots. Fair play to both of us."

In the co-main event, Yair Rodriguez submitted Josh Emmett in the second round to claim the interim featherweight championship with a dominant performance.

In his first ever UFC win by submission, Rodriguez – who also landed around three times as many total and significant strikes – was able to get Emmett in a triangle choke to tap the American out at four minutes and 19 seconds in round two.

Jamaican UFC Welterweight Randy “Rude Boy” Brown is brimming with confidence ahead of his upcoming fight with Australian prospect Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 284 in Perth on Saturday.

Brown enters the fight with a record of 16-4 and has won his last four bouts while Della Maddalena is 13-2 and currently on a 13-fight win streak. The 26-year-old Aussie has won all three of his UFC contests by knockout and Brown is wary of the challenge ahead.

“He’s young and dangerous,” said the 32-year-old.

“He’s a killer. I actually have a ton of respect for him and I’m a fan of his fight style but I know he has a long way to go,” Brown added.

A veteran of 14 UFC fights compared to three for Della Maddalena, Brown expects this advantage in experience to show up when the cage doors are locked on Saturday.

“I’ve been here and I’ve been doing this and he’s got a lot to learn so now’s the time to catch him early. He’s been using the term masterclass so I’m going to show him what it really means,” Brown said.

The bout will open the main card of the Pay-per-view which will be headlined by a Lightweight Championship fight between current Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski and defending Lightweight Champion Islam Makachev.

Conor McGregor will return to the UFC to fight for the first time since July 2021 later this year when he will go up against Michael Chandler.

McGregor, 34, has not competed in the octagon since he lost to Dustin Poirier, a fight in which he suffered a broken leg.

However, UFC president Dana White confirmed on Saturday that the Irishman will face Chandler later in 2023, though did not reveal a date or venue.

The fight will tie in to season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter, which will see McGregor and Chandler go head-to-head as coaches before ultimately fighting each other.

Coincidentally, Chandler will also be competing in his first bout since losing to Poirier at UFC 281 in November.

Conor McGregor avoided major injury when he was hit by a car while out cycling and the UFC superstar said it was his sporting expertise that saved his life.

The former featherweight and lightweight champion, who has not fought since a July 2021 loss to Dustin Poirier, posted a picture and videos on Instagram after the incident.

It appeared to have occurred on a country road, but it was not specified where the incident happened. McGregor has a home in Straffan, County Kildare.

The 34-year-old Irishman wrote: "Got a bang of [sic] a car just now from behind. A sun trap, the driver couldn't see me. Full speed straight thru me.

"Thank you God, it wasn't my time. Thank you wrestling and judo also. Having an awareness on the landing saved my life."

In a video, a panting McGregor tells the driver of the vehicle, who came to check on his wellbeing: "I could have been dead there mate."

The driver responds by saying: "I'm so sorry."

McGregor, who showed his trousers were torn, looked to brush off the incident and accepted the driver's apology before taking the offer of a lift home with his damaged bike.

In a video filmed while being driven back to his house, McGregor said: "I'm still here, thank God. That's all that matters."

Tyson Fury has challenged Francis Ngannou to "kick it up spicy in a cage" in a boxing fight refereed by Mike Tyson.

WBC world heavyweight champion Fury's team are trying to agree terms for an eagerly awaited unification bout with Oleksandr Usyk.

Fury revealed his return to the ring is "imminent" and a March date has provisionally been pencilled in for the Brit to do battle with Ukrainian Usyk.

Ngannou is set to pursue a boxing career after turning down a contract that would have made him the highest-paid heavyweight fighter in UFC history.

Fury and Ngannou have called each other out in the past and the 'Gypsy King' has laid down another challenge to the Cameroonian-French fighter.

He said in an interview with Seconds Out: "Francis Ngannou, I know you're out contract with the UFC.

"You want to earn some big boy money come see the 'Gypsy King' and let's do a big, big fight for the baddest M.F. on the planet.

"Let's kick it up spicy in a cage, four-ounce gloves, on the Queensberry, and let's have a badass referee like 'Iron' Mike Tyson. Did I just sell that to the world?"

He added: "If the contract doesn't get signed with Usyk next, the fight of the century in boxing, we'll do the Ngannou fight. Whether it's going to be in Las Vegas or Wembley, who will know. We'll know quite soon, I think."

Jamahal Hill claimed the UFC light heavyweight title with a five-round pummelling of Glover Teixeira by unanimous decision at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday.

The 31-year-old American won the vacant title in dominant fashion, leaving his opponent bloodied and earning a lopsided vote 50-44, 50-44, 50-44.

Hill's punching combinations and head kicks were too much for Brazil-born former titleholder Teixeira, with the American claiming victory immediately upon the conclusion of the fifth round, having had 248-108 total strikes and 232-75 significant strikes.

"Anything is possible," Hill said during his post-fight interview. "Hard work, dedication, accountability. Don't let nobody tell you nothing.

"Too many people told me I couldn't do it, that it was impossible. I needed to do it in one round. I couldn't go five. What the f*** you got to say now?"

Teixeira was badly hurt by a second-round head kick, along with a third-round punching combination, leaving him with cuts above his eyes. Teixeira announced his retirement after the fight.

In the flyweight division, which co-headlined UFC 283, Mexican Brandon Moreno defeated Deiveson Figueiredo by TKO in the third round by doctor stoppage after the Brazilian's right eye closed over.

Figueiredo sustained the injury from a Moreno left hook, but the Mexican was ahead at the time on all three judges' scorecards.

The Moreno win came in their fourth meeting over the past 25 months, with Figueiredo declaring his intention after the fight to move up a division.

Jon Jones will return to the octagon for the first time since February 2020 when he takes on Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285.

The fight for the March 4 event in Las Vegas was announced on Saturday by UFC President Dana White, who also confirmed that heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou – who many expected to be Jones' opponent – is leaving the organisation.

Ngannou has a 17-3-0 record, but White confirmed the Cameroonian wanted to seek other opportunities and the UFC has agreed to release him from his contract.

"We did everything we could to try and make this fight happen and try to give him a fight, but he has got it in his head that there are bigger opportunities outside of UFC with lesser opponents," White said, also confirming he had offered to make Ngannou the best-paid fighter in the history of the company.

"We're going to let him do that. We're going to release him from his contract. We're going to give up our right to match and he can go wherever he wants and do whatever he wants."

Jones will now instead face Gane, whose only loss in an 11-1-0 career came by unanimous decision against Ngannou in a heavyweight title bout at UFC 270 last January.

It will be the 35-year-old Jones' debut at heavyweight, having gone 26-1-0 (1 no contest) at light-heavyweight, before he gave up his title at that weight following a dispute over pay.

UFC president Dana White says there is no need for him to be punished by the organisation after being involved in a physical altercation with his wife.

Video footage emerged of the 53-year-old and wife Anne celebrating New Year's Eve in Cabo, Mexico, when a dispute seemingly broke out between the couple.

Anne White had her head in her hands before slapping her husband, who struck back with slaps of his own. The video emerged via TMZ, and White apologised via the US news outlet after the incident.

"What should the repercussions be? You tell me," White said when asked if he should be punished by the UFC. "I take 30 days off? How does that hurt me?

"I told you guys as we were going through [the COVID-19 pandemic], COVID could last 10 years, and I could sit it out. It's much like COVID, actually. Me leaving hurts the company. Hurts my employees. Hurts the fighters. It doesn't hurt me.

"I could've left in 2016 [when the company was acquired by Endeavor]. Do I need to reflect? I've been against this. I've owned this. I'm telling you that I'm wrong.

"Here's my punishment: I have to walk around for however long I live – and this is how I'm labelled now. My other punishment is that I'm sure a lot of people – whether it be media, fighters, friends, acquaintances – who had respect for me might not have respect for me now.

"There's a lot of things I have to deal with the rest of my life that's way more of a punishment than, what, I take a 30-day or 60-day absence?"

White, who has been UFC president since 2001, added that criticism of him for the altercation with his wife was "100 per cent warranted" and moved to discredit anyone defending his actions.

"One thing I do want to clarify in this thing that I didn't talk about on TMZ, because I didn't expect it or I didn't see it coming, is the people that are defending me," he said.

"There's never an excuse. There's no defense for this, and people should not be defending me, no matter what. All the criticism I've received this week is 100-per-cent warranted."

Dana and Anne have been married for 27 years and have three children together.

Jake Paul is making a move to mixed martial arts after signing a potentially highly lucrative deal with the Professional Fighters League.

Social media influencer Paul is 6-0, with four knockouts, in his professional boxing career, having beaten former UFC champions such as Tyron Woodley and Anderson Silva.

However, he is making a switch to mixed martial arts with the PFL, which describes itself as a 'fighters-first' organisation.

Paul has been an outspoken critic of the UFC and its president Dana White over fighters' pay, and the PFL's new 'Super Fight' division will allow fighters to take 50 per cent of the pay-per-view revenue.

The American has also been given a role with the company as head of fighter advocacy, promoting the league and attracting new talent.

In a statement, Paul said: "I've proven myself in and out of the boxing ring and now I am going to do the same in MMA, and there is no limit to the positive impact I can make on the sport.

"I plan to enter the PFL SmartCage and once again show the world that anything is possible with hard work and dedication."

It is unclear when Paul's first PFL fight will be, but one possible opponent is Nate Diaz, with the UFC great a free agent after his contract with White's company expired.

Paul hopes to face Diaz twice, first in a boxing match and then in a mixed martial arts bout.

"I've already disrupted boxing, and now it's time to disrupt MMA," Paul said.

"I'm so dedicated to this that I offered Nate Diaz a two-fight deal: first, we box, then six months later we fight MMA in the PFL SmartCage and lay it all on the line. Let's make it happen."

Dana White said there could be no excuses for his behaviour after video footage emerged of the UFC president and his wife slapping each other in a club on New Year's Eve.

The 53-year-old and wife Anne were reportedly celebrating in Cabo, Mexico, when a dispute seemingly broke out between the couple.

Anne White had her head in her hands before slapping her husband, who struck back with slaps of his own.

The video emerged via TMZ, and White apologised via the US news outlet after the incident.

White said: "You've heard me say over the years, 'There is never, ever an excuse for a guy to put his hands on a woman', and now here I am on TMZ talking about it.

"My wife and I have been married for almost 30 years. We've known each other since we were 12 years old. We've obviously been through some s*** together. We've got three kids.

"This is one of those situations that's horrible, I'm embarrassed – but it's also one of those situations that right now we're more concerned about our kids. We have three kids and obviously, since the video popped up, we've shown the kids the video and we're more focused on our family right now.

"I'm literally making no excuses for this thing at all. It's never happened before. It's the first time it's ever happened."

White is prepared for criticism and accepted he could have little comeback, saying he would have brought it upon himself.

He said: "People are going to say what they're going to say and it is what is. Whatever people say is deserved. I deserve it."

Anne White told TMZ it was "an understatement" to describe her husband's conduct as being out of character.

"Nothing like this has ever happened before," she said, blaming a heavy alcohol intake that caused events to become "out of control".

Both have apologised, she said.

Las Vegas-based White has been president of UFC – the highly successful mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Championship – since 2001, signing up to a seven-year extension in 2019.

UFC 282 was unable to crown a new light heavyweight champion on Saturday with a tough five-round split draw in the main event between former champion Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev in Las Vegas.

Blachowicz had appeared to concede defeat immediately after the fight by raising Ankalaev's hand, but it was deemed a split draw by the three judges with Mike Bell and Derek Cleary going either way and Sal D'Amato scoring it 47-47.

Ankalaev, who was on a nine-fight winning streak, finished the stronger of the two, with his final-round score ensuring the split decision. The Dagestani was dismayed that he was not awarded the win by the judges.

"I don't know what to say," Ankalaev said through a translator. "I won that fight. Why didn't I get my belt? I don't know what to say.

"I don't know if I'm going to fight for this organization again, because I don't know what just happened."

Blachowicz said he had not done enough himself to win the fight and returned to the cage to call for the UFC to "give the belt to Magomed Ankalaev".

"I have to watch the fight, but for sure I didn't win," the Pole said. "I don't know if I lost the fight, but I'm not the winner."

The bout was full of momentum swings with Ankalaev going with a wrestling strategy from the fourth round, having hurt his lead right leg in the second round from Blachowicz kicks.

Ankalaev out-landed Blachowicz 191-79 in total strikes and 78-55 in significant strikes.

UFC president Dana White announced after the fight that Glover Teixeira would take on Jamahal Hill for the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 283 next month in Brazil.

There was also controversy in the main card lightweight fight won by Paddy Pimblett over Jared Gordon, with the Englishman winning by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Gordon won total strikes 100-97 and successfully completed three takedowns, yet Pimblett had the decision go his way.

"Coming into the third I knew I won the first two rounds easily," Pimblett said after the fight.

When asked if it was close, he added: "No it wasn’t, that wasn't close."

Earlier, Mexican 18-year-old Raul Rosas Jr triumphed as he became the youngest fighter ever to compete in the UFC, beating Jay Perrin with a first-round submission in the bantamweight during the preliminary cards.

Former UFC light-heavyweight title contender Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson has died at the age of 38.

The American, who ended his UFC career with a record of 22 wins and six defeats, had been suffering from an undisclosed illness.

Johnson came out of retirement to join Bellator last year, but he was forced to pull out of a light-heavyweight title bout in September 2021 on health grounds.

Speaking to ESPN in October, manager Ali Abdelaziz said Johnson "was not doing well" and asked the MMA world to pray for him.

Bellator's official Twitter account confirmed on Sunday that Johnson had passed away.

"It is with great sadness we acknowledge the passing of Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson," the tweet read.

"The Bellator family is devastated by his untimely passing and we send our condolences to his family and friends during this difficult time."

Johnson also competed as a welterweight and middleweight in UFC, with 17 of his 23 overall career wins coming by knockout.

Israel Adesanya lost to Alex Pereira for a third time on Saturday, costing the UFC champion his middleweight belt, but he is already looking forward to a rematch.

Pereira is the only fighter ever to have stopped Adesanya, knocking him out in one of a pair of kickboxing wins.

And at UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden, the Brazilian repeated the trick, winning by TKO in the final round of a bout Adesanya had enjoyed the better of to that point.

Adesanya was not impressed by the stoppage, saying: "I'm grateful. What a life, what a moment.

"It's f***ing crazy, isn't it? It's similar to the last time – same story. It's crazy. I was fine, I was still lucid, but s*** happens.

"I talked to my coaches, and I trust them, but I was fine. I could see everything. My eyes might have rolled back a little bit, but I was lucid."

It was only a second UFC defeat for Adesanya and his first at middleweight, where he had been champion since 2019. Pereira only entered the UFC for the first time last November.

But Adesanya accepts the risk of defeat as part of the role as champion, replying when asked if he would be pursuing a rematch: "Of course, of course. Come on, man.

"This was my third fight in 10 months. Every time I fight, I risk losing what you guys deem as the prestigious belt.

"I put it on the line because I'm not trying to just fight once and then chill, do my lap around and parade as a champion and not risk so much.

"I put it on the line, and this is what happens. Dare to be great – and I am."

Adesanya referred to Leonardo DiCaprio's portrayal of Jordan Belford in The Wolf of Wall Street as he added: "'I'm not f***ing leaving'. Yeah, I'm still right here. I'm not going anywhere."