The MMA Vivisection – UFC 285: Jones vs. Gane picks, odds, & analysis

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

The UFC is back in action with what finally feels like a really well stacked PPV card. UFC 285 features the return of Jon Jones, finally testing himself at heavyweight—against Cyril Gane for the vacant title belt. We’ve got Valentina Shevchenko taking on Alexa Grasso for her 8th consecutive defense of the flyweight belt. And we have the official UFC debut of super-prospect Bo Nickal. Should be a good time all around.

For fans looking to support our podcasting work as Bloody Elbow leaves VOX network of sites, we now officially have a Vivisection/6th Round Patreon. Both shows will continue to be posted, for free on BE, SoundCloud, YouTube and other podcasting apps going forward. However, the Patreon will give fans exclusive access to the MMA Depressed-us from here on out.

For those looking to dive deeper into a card that feels as though it’s all just undercard, check out the Prelims Vivi below.

June M. Williams

The MMA Vivisection is brought to you by ‘The Fine Art of Violence’, a collection of art and essays recapping the year in MMA by Chris Rini, featuring the most talented artists and writers in Mixed Martial Arts. The book is available in both hard copy and digital formats at chrisrini.com.

Here’s a look at the UFC 285 fight card, as it stood at the time of recording:

ESPN+ PPV CARD | SAT MAR 4: 7pm/4pm ET&PT

UFC Vacant HW Championship: Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane — Picks, Zane: Jones, Connor: Gane | At 00:58, Odds 38:28
UFC Flyweight Championship: Valentina Shevchenko vs. Alexa Grasso — Picks, Both: Shevchenko | At 38:57, Odds 53:09
Geoff Neal vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov — Picks, Both: Rakhmonov | At 54:12, Odds 1:12:13
Mateusz Gamrot vs. Jalin Turner – Picks, Both: Gamrot | 1:12:31, Odds 1:26:40
Jamie Pickett vs. Bo Nickal — Picks, Both: Nickel | At 1:27:21, Odds 1:28:22

ESPN+ FEATURED PRELIMS | 8pm/5pm ET&PT

Cody Garbrandt vs. Trevin Jones — Picks, Both: Jones | At 1:49, Odds 18:12
Derek Brunson vs. Dricus Du Plessis — Picks, Both: Brunson | At 19:42, Odds 29:56
Viviane Araujo vs. Amanda Ribas — Picks, Both: Araujo | At 30:06, Odds 41:10
Julian Marquez vs. Marc-André Barriault — Picks, Both: Marquez | At 43:09, Odds 54:42

UFC FIGHTPASS EARLY PRELIMS | 6:15pm/3:15pm ET&PT

Ian Garry vs. Song Kenan — Picks, Both: Garry | At 56:41, Odds 1:01:36
Mana Martinez vs. Cameron Saaiman — Picks, Zane: Saaiman, Connor: Martinez | At 1:02:32, Odds 1:14:17
Jessica Penne vs. Tabatha Ricci — Picks, Both: Ricci | At 1:15:16, Odds 1:22:58
Farid Basharat vs. Da’Mon Blackshear — Picks, Both: Blackshear | At 1:23:23, Odds 1:33:15
Loik Radzhabov vs. Esteban Ribovics — Picks, Both: Radzhabov | At 1:33:43, Odds 1:42:56

For those of you following the picks made on the show, we started tracking them with the July 13th, 2020 Vivisection shows for UFC Fight Island 1: ‘Kattar vs. Ige’. So far, here are the overall standings:

For our last event, UFC Vegas 70: ‘Muniz vs. Allen’:

Zane picked 6/13 for 46% and Connor picked 4/13 for 31%

Overall stats from UFC Fight Island 1 in July, 2020, through UFC Vegas 70 in Feb, 2023:

Zane went 845/1315 for 64% and Connor went 808/1315 for 61%

2023 Stats:

Zane is 45/73 for 62% and Connor is 44/73 for 60%

2022 Stats:

Zane went 331/505 for 66% and Connor went 312/505 for 62%

2021 Stats:

Zane went 305/493 for 62% and Connor went 295/493 for 60%

July-Dec 2020 Stats:

Zane went 164/244 for 67% and Connor went 157/244 for 64%

Stats Reference Spreadsheet: Vivi Picks Stats-3.2.23.pdf

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About the author

Zane Simon

Zane Simon is a senior editor, writer, and podcaster for Bloody Elbow. He has worked with the website since 2013, taking on a wide variety of roles. A lifelong combat sports fan, Zane has trained off & on in both boxing and Muay Thai. He currently hosts the long-running MMA Vivisection podcast, which he took over from Nate Wilcox & Dallas Winston in 2015, as well as the 6th Round podcast, started in 2014. Zane is also responsible for developing and maintaining the ‘List of current UFC fighters’ on Bloody Elbow, a resource he originally developed for Wikipedia in 2010.