The God of Heavy Metal, the late Ozzy Osbourne, once remarked, “I remember what a thrill it was to go from the back streets of Birmingham to Madison Square Garden in New York…it’s like playing on Mars. You can’t buy that.” Now replace the stage with an octagon. If that feeling of playing on Mars resonated with generations of metalheads, try imagining the euphoria that unfolds when fight freaks watch two icons slug it out. Wait for two more days, and you’ll understand it better.

A year after Jon Jones broke the record for overall title defenses, the UFC returns for a night most deserving of the ‘World’s Most Famous Arena.’ On Saturday, November 15, the eyes of the combat sports world will zero in on Madison Square Garden. With bated breath, they will watch. Can Islam Makhachev enter history and join that exclusive champ-champ club? After all, he faces a major stumbling block in champion Jack Della Maddalena. The fact that it’s taking place in one of the most famous and historic venues only adds to the gravitas. So what is it exactly about MSG, as it’s often called, that ties it to some pivotal chapters in mixed martial arts? Here’s a look at how the fates of the UFC and Madison Square Garden intertwined over the years and are now gearing up to add another epoch to a memorable journey.

UFC 205: The night that confirmed Conor McGregor’s superstardom

One has to turn back the clock to November 12, 2016—the day when it all began. Over a year after his first major U.S. headliner and interim title win over Chad Mendes, Conor McGregor upped the ante. Already a featherweight champion after the sensational win over Jose Aldo, he stepped up and joined the welterweight ranks. The debut wasn’t exactly what one would have wished for, as Nate Diaz inflicted McGregor’s first UFC loss. The Irishman returned the favor a few months later, though.

What transpired afterward at UFC 205, when he defeated Eddie Alvarez in the second round of the UFC 205 headliner, affirmed Conor McGregor’s status as a global superstar. He entered history as the first UFC fighter to hold two championship titles simultaneously. On the same card, a preliminary fight saw Khabib Nurmagomedov toying with Michael Johnson before forcing a submission by kimura.

In the lead-up to the event, Dana White remarked, “It should have never happened. But at the end of the day, it made it bigger, it made it a bigger event, and it made it more special. I wouldn’t change it at all.” And it did. If the weigh-ins witnessed the largest crowd ever, 15,480, then with a reported $17.7 million in gate revenue, the show broke the previous record at Madison Square Garden for any sporting event.

UFC 217: The Night of Three Champions

Like its predecessor a year before, UFC 217 set an unheard-of record. Returning for the second time to Madison Square Garden, the UFC staged an event featuring three championship bouts. On November 4, 2017, Georges St-Pierre fought against Michael Bisping for the middleweight title. T.J. Dillashaw faced Cody Garbrandt for the bantamweight title, and Rose Namajunas faced Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the women’s strawweight title.

And as it turned out, for the first time in UFC history, all three reigning champions – Bisping, Garbrandt, and Jedrzejczyk – lost their belts. Unfortunately, none of the bouts received the Fight of the Night honor.

UFC 230: Daniel Cormier’s last hurrah

Reportedly, over seventeen thousand fans converged at Madison Square Garden on November 3, 2018, to see one of the greatest fighters ever pass the torch. Months after he knocked out Stipe Miocic in the first round to claim the heavyweight title, Cormier stepped in to defend his belt against Derrick Lewis. The bout ended in a second-round win for the Olympian.

But thereafter, things went topsy-turvy. Two consecutive losses to Miocic, and by the end of 2020, Daniel Cormier hung up his gloves. Fans recall UFC 230 particularly for the high number of fighter pullouts and card changes. It included the cancellation of a high-profile lightweight bout between Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz. Even the co-main event underwent changes when Ronaldo Souza replaced an injured Luke Rockhold to face Chris Weidman.

UFC 244: The first of the ‘baddest motherf**ker’ descends

Year 2019, date November 2. UFC arrived at Madison Square Garden with Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal. The UFC 244 headliner between the two welterweights upped the ante after Diaz, following his win over Anthony Pettis, called himself the “baddest motherf**ker.” And big boss Dana White only had to stoke the fire, turning the callout into a symbolic title, a BMF belt.

The event generated over $6.5 million in gate revenue. It saw a fair share of pre- and post-fight controversies erupt. Kelvin Gastelum was fined $1,000 for making physical contact during the weigh-ins. Then, for his unsportsmanlike conduct, the New York State Athletic Commission struck Corey Anderson with a $10,000 fine.

The show was also significant in the sense that after winning the inaugural BMF belt, both Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz experienced a gradual decline in their careers. After a spate of four consecutive losses, Masvidal exited the UFC. It took Diaz another two years before he could return. Still, he suffered a loss to Leon Edwards on his comeback. He took his final bow after forcing Tony Ferguson into submission a year later.

UFC 268: MSG announces the arrival of a new star

It took the UFC two years before it could return to Madison Square Garden. UFC 268 featured the rematch between then-welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. The two met after a two-year gap, with both being title defenses for The Nigerian Nightmare. Unlike the previous outing, this time the fight went the whole distance, ending in a unanimous win for Usman.

As in the previous instance, MSG proved unlucky for Luke Rockhold once again. A month before the event, he pulled out from a bout against Sean Strickland after suffering from a herniated disc. One of the most memorable highlights remains the main card fight between Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler.

Going full throttle, the duo threw an insane 428 significant strikes in just three rounds, landing 219 of them. The pace never slowed. The action never stopped. Gaethje won a high-octane brawl that kept the entire crowd on its feet from start to finish.

The event saw a near $10 million gate. The story of UFC 268 piques interest since a future superstar made his debut on the show. Two months after he inked the deal with the UFC, Alex Pereira kicked off his glorious journey, earning the first of his many Performance of the Night honors. He knocked out Andreas Michailidis in the second round of a preliminary bout. A year later, he defeated Israel Adesanya and became a middleweight champion.

UFC 281: Nightmare for The Last Stylebender as the Poatan charges

The Alex Pereira charge didn’t slow down. After Bruno Silva and Sean Strickland, old kickboxing rival Israel Adesanya became his third victim at UFC 281. Setting a new attendance record, where over 20,000 fans arrived at Madison Square Garden, the event, voted Event of the Year by the fans, saw the Brazilian become a champion for the first time. It was the second UFC and MMA loss for Izzy.

After their two previous meetups as kickboxers, the pair met for the first time as mixed martial artists. The event also saw champion Zhang Weili reclaim her strawweight championship after losing the belt to Rose Namajunas a year earlier. This UFC event was packed with action. 11 of its fights ended by knockout or submission, seven of them in the first round, thus tying multiple all-time records.

UFC 295: Alex Pereira touches new heights

Pereira’s happiness, however, proved short-lived. Barely five months after he became the middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya paid him back in the same coin with a knockout defeat. And with that, the Brazilian lost his hard-earned belt. However, he decided it was time to scale up. The search for greener pastures landed Pereira in the light heavyweight realm.

A tough win over former champion Jan Błachowicz, however, earned him a title shot against Jiri Prochazka. Just a year before, the Czech fighter had defeated Pereira’s longtime trainer Glover Teixeira to win the light heavyweight championship. He vacated the title following an injury.

The meetup on November 11, 2023, ended in Procházka suffering his first UFC defeat. And Alex Pereira marched off to a winning streak that continued till this year when Magomed Ankalaev defeated him unanimously. The card also saw rising star Tom Aspinall, competing in his third bout on U.S. soil, register a spectacular first-round win over Sergei Pavlovich. He became the interim heavyweight champion and received the Performance of the Night honor as well.

UFC 309: The GOAT returns – Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic

UFC 295 marked the promotion’s tenth visit to New York City. Intriguingly, the event was supposed to be headlined by the heavyweight bout between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic. However, Jones’ injury resulted in the Pereira-Prochazka fight being pulled from the co-main to the main event. It wasn’t a disappointing venture either. Though only 19 thousand turned to see the fight, the gate revenue touched nearly $12.5 million.

Finally, by November 2024, Jon Jones was ready, and so was Stipe Miocic. A year earlier, Jones had defeated Ciryl Gane to win the heavyweight title and joined the rare double champ club. It was time he cemented his legacy as the greatest of all time. And he did so with elan. A spinning back kick followed by a flurry of punches stunned Miocic and ended the fight. While Jones earned the Performance of the Night award, he also broke the record with his twelfth title defense, reportedly the most in UFC history.

In the co-main, former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira faced Michael Chandler. The rematch ended with Oliveira scoring yet another win over Chandler. The fight earned the distinction of winning the Fight of the Night award as well.

Reportedly, a 20,000-plus crowd generated over $16.5 million in gate revenue that night.

With UFC 322, Dana White and his team will mark their ninth event at the prestigious venue. The event has already gained considerable traction for featuring two champ-champ fights. On one hand, after holding the lightweight belt, Islam Makhachev will try to become a welterweight champion. Then on the other, Zhang Weili climbs up to challenge champion Valentina Shevchenko for the latter’s flyweight title.

Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman summed up the feeling about fighting at MSG perfectly: “It’s magical walking in there and competing inside Madison Square Garden, with all of the history and all of the people who have performed there from every sport. It’s unbelievable. It’s surreal.”

With all the top contenders of the welterweight division lined up on the main card, the Saturday night show has the makings of the year’s best event. It shows every sign of what Weidman reflected.

Which has been your favorite UFC event at Madison Square Garden over the years?