The UFC makes its now-yearly return to Madison Square Garden in a few weeks for UFC 295. Light heavyweights Jiří Procházka and Alex Pereira fight for the vacant 205-pound title and interim gold will also be on the line as heavyweight finishers Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall meet in the co-main event.
The event originally featured a main event between UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former champion Stipe Miocic, but an injury forced Jones to withdraw from the bout. The UFC made a quick pivot and booked Pavlovich and Aspinall to step in.
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UFC 295 is also special because the event celebrates the UFC’s 30th Anniversary, which the world leader in mixed martial arts has been promoting for the last calendar year with looks back at UFC’s incredible history.
One of the most notable events in UFC’s history was UFC 205, which was symbolic in many ways and featured one of the most stacked events the company ever put together.
Let’s look back at UFC 205 before UFC 295 comes on November 11.
Order UFC 295: Procházka vs Pereira
As the UFC featherweight champion and one of the biggest combat sports stars of all-time, Conor McGregor called his shot. He wanted to move up to lightweight and take the belt off Eddie Alvarez and make history as the first simultaneous double champ in UFC history.
McGregor was a two-division champion before UFC in Cage Warriors and he said he would accomplish the same feat once he got in the Octagon.
From the press conference to the fight, “The Notorious” one was flawless. He delivered a master class of showmanship and skill every time he had a microphone in his face or was standing across from Alvarez.
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McGregor only needed 32 significant strikes to drop Alvarez three times, and his combinations were brilliant. At the time, the three knockdowns made McGregor only the third fighter in UFC history to score three knockdowns in a single fight. The third knockdown was the final one and, just like that, in the second round, McGregor had made UFC history.
And he apologized to absolutely no one.
Tyron Woodley and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson went to battle for the welterweight title. Both fighters had incredible moments, but one moment that stood out was Woodley connecting with a powerful right hook that dropped Wonderboy to the canvas. Somehow Wonderboy survived as Woodley looked to finish the fight, even gutting out a tight guillotine choke.
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The fight had every fan out of their seat and showcased the talents of Woodley and the toughness of Wonderboy.
In the end, the razor-close fight was declared a majority draw and set the pair up for a rematch at UFC 209, which Woodley would go on to win by majority decision.
The strawweight queen delivered another impressive performance against challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz. It was Jedrzejczyk’s fourth consecutive title defense, which, at the time, was the second-best active total in the UFC.
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Former middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero is one of the scariest dudes to ever step in the Octagon and his flying knee knockout of Chris Weidman only reinforced that perception.
Romero connected with a powerful flying knee that put Weidman out immediately and made Romero one of two fighters with flying knee KOs in UFC history.
Khabib Nurmagomedov put on a clinic against Michael Johnson, solidifying himself as the top contender in the lightweight division. He voiced his displeasure with McGregor getting a title shot and called for his chance at the strap. This was another step for “The Eagle” before becoming the champion at 155 pounds.
Results of an economic impact analysis following the historic event showed that the landmark card made significant contributions to the city and state of New York, with $37.4 million in economic output and $18.3 million in salaries and wages.
This type of impact was the perfect start for great things to come at MSG.
