The Ultimate Fighting Championship has set up shop inside Madison Square Garden—“The World’s Most Famous Arena”—a total of seven times since the sport of mixed martial arts was legalized in the state of New York in 2016. It has been an eventful relationship, to say the least. The organization on Saturday returns to the venue with UFC 309, where Rochester native Jon Jones defends his share of the heavyweight title opposite former champion Stipe Miocic in the five-round headliner.
Ahead of the UFC’s latest stop in MSG, a look at five of the many moments that have come to define the connection between the two entities:
1. Irish Eyes Were Smiling
Conor McGregor became the first competitor in Ultimate Fighting Championship history to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously when he put away Eddie Alvarez with second-round punches and laid claim to the lightweight crown in the UFC 205 main event on Nov. 12, 2016. The Irishman brought it to a close 3:04 into Round 2, seizing possession of championship gold at 145 and 155 pounds. Alvarez elected to stand with the SBG Ireland superstar and paid a steep price. McGregor kept the Philadelphia native on the end of his punches, floored him twice inside the first five minutes and established his superiority with breathtaking ease. A little more than midway through the second round, he cut loose with a blistering four-punch combination that sent Alvarez crashing to the canvas and prompted referee John McCarthy to intervene on his behalf.
2. Going-Away Present
Georges St. Pierre put Michael Bisping to sleep in the third round of their UFC 217 headliner, as he captured the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight crown on Nov. 4, 2017. Bisping went limp in the clutches of a rear-naked choke 4:23 into Round 3, his days atop the 185-pound weight class at an end. In his first appearance in almost four years, St. Pierre surpassed all reasonable expectations. He worked over Bisping for the better part of two rounds with a punishing jab while integrating spinning kicks and takedowns. However, the Englishman started to turn the tide in the closing minutes of Round 2 and figured to carry the momentum forward with his superior cardio. St. Pierre executed a takedown inside the first 30 seconds of the third round, only to encounter a series of short elbows from the grounded Englishman. When they returned to their feet, St. Pierre was bleeding from cuts to the side of his head and the bridge of his nose. He was undeterred by the damage. St. Pierre dropped Bisping with a sharp left hook, pounced with a series of crushing elbows and then maneuvered to the back, cinching the choke in one fluid motion. “Rush” vacated the title a little more than a month later to tend to health issues and went on to retire in 2019, never having fought again.
3. Birth of the BMF
Jorge Masvidal was awarded a technical knockout against Nate Diaz in the UFC 244 main event on Nov. 2, 2019. The cageside physician called for the stoppage due to cuts in between the third and fourth rounds, much to the dismay of the two combatants and those in attendance. Understandably, neither Masvidal nor Diaz seemed satisfied with how the situation played out. Once the emotions died down, history showed Masvidal was the vastly superior fighter. The American Top Team standout decided when and where to engage, taunted Diaz with wry smiles and tore into him with virtually every weapon in his vast arsenal. An elbow strike from the clinch opened the first cut, and by fight’s end, it stretched across almost the entire length of Diaz’s right eyebrow. “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 winner also sported a horizontal gash below his eye on the same side—further evidence that his 15-minute clash with Masvidal had not gone as he had hoped.
4. An Unforgettable Classic
Damaging low kicks, devastating power punches and an unshakable resolve carried former World Series of Fighting champion Justin Gaethje to a unanimous decision over Michael Chandler in an epic three-round UFC 268 lightweight showcase on Nov. 6, 2021. All three cageside judges scored it for Gaethje: 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27. Chandler had the Trevor Wittman protégé reeling on the end of his blinding right hand on more than one occasion in the first round but could not finish the job. Gaethje returned fire under considerable duress, zeroed in on the three-time Bellator MMA titleholder’s lower lead leg and slowly but surely seized the reins. He floored Chandler with a crushing uppercut in the second round and continued to assault his already compromised base with kicks. Gaethje withstood a final push from the Missouri native—it included savage hooks to the body from both hands—and scrambled out of a high-amplitude takedown in the third round, where the two revered gladiators finally seemed to run out of steam.
5. Changing of the Guard
Alex Pereira dismissed Israel Adesanya with punches and laid claim to the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight crown in the fifth round of their UFC 281 headliner on Nov. 12, 2022. “The Last Stylebender” checked out 2:01 into Round 5, but it was a treacherous journey for Pereira. Adesanya nearly finished him at the end of the first round, where he cracked the Glover Teixeira disciple with an overhand right and followed it with a crushing left hook as the horn sounded. Pereira recovered during the respite and rebounded with a strong showing in Round 2. However, he lost his way as the fight progressed, his movements becoming increasingly labored after the champion took him down and grinded on him for nearly four minutes in the third. He entered the final round likely in need of a knockout. Adesanya failed to manage distance properly, allowed the challenger to back him to the fence and paid dearly for his miscalculation. Pereira followed a slashing right uppercut with a jarring left hook that set the City Kickboxing star on unsteady legs. He then unleashed with power shots from both hands as Adesanya slouched forward in a defenseless posture and left his head exposed, prompting the stoppage.