Dana White declared Jon Jones the Greatest of all Time as he returned from a three-year absence to beat Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 and set up a possible showdown with Stipe Miocic.

On a star-studded evening in Las Vegas, which included actor Jake Gyllenhaal spending time in the octagon between fights as part of filming for the upcoming remake of the 1989 film Road House, Jones needed just two minutes and four seconds to get the job done.

After his previous success at light heavyweight, the American stepped up to heavyweight for his first UFC outing since beating Dominick Reyes in February 2020 and delivered a performance for the ages.

In the process, he joined an elite group of fighters - including the watching Conor McGregor - who have won UFC titles in two weight divisions and immediately set his sights on facing the man he believes to be the greatest heavyweight ever, Stipe Miocic.

Jones proves his doubters wrong

After three years out, questions were inevitably raised as to whether Jones would be able to reach his previous heights, especially after moving up to the top class for the first time.

However, he stamped his mark on the fight early on, with it barely a minute old when he first took Gane to the mat.

The winning move was an expertly executed guillotine choke at 2:04 to hand his French opponent only the second defeat of his career and extend the 35-year-old's unbeaten run to 19 fights.

Rather than lick his metaphorical wounds, Gane says he has no plans to take time off and is keen to get back in the gym and prove he still belongs in the upper echelons of mixed martial arts.

Meanwhile, Jones warned the sport that he felt "stronger than ever", hinting that he has no plans for another hiatus following his 27th career win.

Miocic next up for Jones?

Jones also set out his stall when quizzed on his next opponent, being unequivocal that Miocic is the only fighter worthy of his time.

The second-ranked contender is in a similar situation to the man calling him out, having not fought since losing the heavyweight championship to Francis Ngannou in March 2021 at UFC 260.

Jones' win saw him named the GOAT (Greatest of all Time) by White and the man himself now wants to prove it by beating the fighter he feels currently owns that status - Miocic.

White confirmed that he expects the fight to happen, but does not know when. However, there is no doubt in Jones' mind about his intentions for the bout.

'Bones' says he is ready to focus his "whole world" on beating his fellow American, adding: "I am not only going to beat Stipe Miocic, I am going to finish Stipe Miocic!"

The hype suggests the fight could come sooner rather than later and Jones' lack of ring rust may motivate Miocic more following his own break from the sport, especially with the heavyweight title potentially on the line.

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Shevchenko shocked as Grasso makes history

There was an upset in the co-main event in Las Vegas as Alexa Grasso became Mexico's first female UFC champion by making Valentina Shevchenko submit in the fourth round.

Shevchenko came into the fight unbeaten since losing to two-weight champion Amanda Nunes at bantamweight in 2017 and, having taken the flyweight crown in 2018, was seen as arguably the greatest female to ever compete in the division.

However, a poorly-timed spinning back-kick left her exposed and Grasso put her on her back before forcing her to submit through a rear-necked choke.

The 29-year-old challenger started the better of the two fighters, using her striking in the early minutes, but Shevchenko took over with her takedowns and soon started to get the upper hand.

Despite her opponent's positivity, Grasso continued to look good on her feet and maximised her chances in the fourth round, taking down the Kyrgyzstan-born fighter and forcing her to tap out.

Both fighters said in the aftermath that they would be open to a rematch, but White was reluctant to commit, suggesting he may see Shevchenko's time at the top to be over.

In contrast, Grasso admitted to being in dreamland after becoming Mexico's third UFC champion and her country's first female to hold a belt.

She could now face American Erin Blanchfield, who extended her UFC record to 11-1 with last month's submission win over Jessica Andrade.