5 best UFC events at Madison Square Garden

UFC 295 is scheduled to take place at Madison Square Garden, one of the most iconic venues in the combat sports world. For years, the promotion fought for global recognition and legality for mixed martial arts, and New York remained one of the last bastions of resistance to it on American soil.

However, in 2016, the state of New York finally relented, becoming the 50th state to legalize and regulate the sport of MMA. From then onwards, the UFC has held several events at Madison Square Garden, which is located in New York City. Every event has been memorable, some more than others.

However, there are some that have gone on to become part of modern-day MMA folklore, whether due to historic bouts taking place or simply being unmatched in terms of sheer entertainment.

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#5. UFC 244

For Jorge Masvidal, 2019 can be regarded as the year of his coronation as a superstar of the sport. While he spent the majority of his tenure as an MMA fighter bouncing back and forth between wins and losses, 'Gamebred' finally caught lightning in a bottle in 2019 when he knocked out Darren Till and Ben Askren.

That set the stage for UFC 244 when he faced Nate Diaz in the headline bout for the first-ever 'BMF' title: a symbolic championship meant to represent the 'Baddest Motherf***er' in MMA. The event saw Masvidal dominate Diaz, scoring two knockdowns en route to a controversial doctor stoppage.

Not only did Masvidal become the first 'BMF' champion at the event, but Kevin Lee head-kicked Gregor Gillespie to hand him his first-ever loss with 2019's Knockout of the Year. Similarly, Corey Anderson completely derailed Johnny Walker's hype train by unexpectedly knocking him out within a round.

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#4. UFC 205

The first event that the promotion ever held in New York City was UFC 205, and it is one that will never be forgotten. The main event saw Conor McGregor enter the annals of history-makers when he became the first-ever simultaneous two-division champion in the UFC by TKO'ing Eddie Alvarez in his greatest-ever performance.

Elsewhere on the card, Yoel Romero flattened former middleweight kingpin Chris Weidman with a flying knee. In the aftermath, he used his post-fight interview to call out then-middleweight champion Michael Bisping in one of the most infamous post-fight interviews (where he proclaimed to love Bisping).

Meanwhile, Khabib Nurmagomedov, who fought on the undercard, defeated Michael Johnson, imploring him to surrender as he pummeled him before submitting him. Then, in his post-fight interview, he issued a public challenge to Conor McGregor, referring to him as a 'chicken' and sparking their historic feud.

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#3. UFC 268

Taking place just two years ago, UFC 268, which sold 700,000 pay-per-view buys, was built off the back of rematches. The headline bout saw Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington go to war for the second time and ended with Usman defending his welterweight strap and having a heartfelt moment with his rival.

The co-main event treated fans to an all-time great women's MMA fight between Zhang Weili and Rose Namajunas in a rematch of their prior encounter, which Namajunas had won via first-round knockout. 'Thug Rose' emerged victorious once again, barely beating her rival via split decision to retain her 115-pound title.

Meanwhile, Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler opened the main card with a lightweight thriller that featured everything besides a finish. The undercard, however, was all finishes, punctuated by Alex Pereira announcing himself to the world with a second-round knockout from a flying knee.

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#2. UFC 281

One of the greatest pay-per-views of 2022 was an action-packed thriller from top to bottom. The headliner consisted of Alex Pereira defeating Israel Adesanya via TKO to capture the middleweight title after just three UFC fights. Meanwhile, Zhang Weili regained strawweight gold by submitting Carla Esparza in round two.

In the third-last bout of the evening, Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler settled their differences in a war full of moments. Some moments were controversial, with Chandler fish-hooking his foe. Ultimately, however, 'Iron' was submitted by Poirier, marking the first submission loss of his career.

Chris Gutiérrez retired the legendary Frankie Edgar, knocking him out cold with a flying knee in round one. Meanwhile, Dan Hooker opened the event with a TKO over an overmatched Claudio Puelles. Though the main card was entertaining, the entire event featured a high finishing rate.

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#1. UFC 217

UFC 217 is widely regarded as one of, if not the greatest, pay-per-view in the promotion's history. Only two fights went to a decision, and it featured everything from knockouts and submissions to new champions and controversial moments, with Walt Harris blasting Mark Godbeer with a head kick after the referee called for a time-out.

The stars of the show, though, were on the main card. Georges St-Pierre returned from a four-year hiatus to drop and submit Michael Bisping, capturing middleweight gold in the process. Below them, T.J. Dillashaw went 1-0 in his feud with Cody Garbrandt, handing the latter his first-ever loss with a second-round knockout.

In doing so, he captured the promotion's bantamweight title. But he wasn't the only fighter to knock out an undefeated champion, as Rose Namajunas TKO'd the then-unbeaten Joanna Jędrzejczyk to enthrone herself as the 115-pound champion.

The event also saw Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson completely school Jorge Masvidal with a striking masterclass, while Paulo Costa announced himself to the world by mauling Johny Hendricks with a second-round TKO.