Ten Years Back in New York
Early in 2016, New York State lifted its ban on professional MMA, a law that had been in place for more than two decades and kept the UFC out of its biggest market. The promotion’s previous event in the state had been UFC 7, more than 20 years earlier in Buffalo. It returned directly to Madison Square Garden for UFC 205 on November 12, 2016.
Since then, the UFC has run a New York City event every November except 2020, when COVID-19 pushed its cards to the UFC Apex or Fight Island. Nine of those events have taken place at Madison Square Garden itself, for 12 total in the city. Across those 12 cards: 145 fights, 20 title bouts and one BMF title fight, 75 finishes (58 by knockout or TKO, 17 by submission), 65 decisions, three draws and two disqualifications.
Two other New York cards stand out from that decade. At UFC 230 in 2018, Israel Adesanya knocked out Derek Brunson in the first round on the same night Daniel Cormier defended the heavyweight title against Derrick Lewis. On November 2, 2019, at UFC 244, Jorge Masvidal stopped Nate Diaz in the second round to become the first BMF champion in UFC history, a belt created specifically for that fight.
UFC 205: McGregor Becomes a Double Champion
The November 12, 2016 card featured 10 current, former or future champions and three more title challengers. Conor McGregor stopped Eddie Alvarez by second-round TKO to win the lightweight title, adding it to the featherweight belt he already held and becoming the first fighter in UFC history to hold two titles at once.
On the same card, Raquel Pennington beat Miesha Tate, who announced her retirement after the fight.
UFC 217: Georges St-Pierre’s Return
On November 4, 2017, three titles changed hands at Madison Square Garden. Rose Namajunas knocked out Joanna Jędrzejczyk in the first round to win the strawweight title, handing the Polish champion her first loss since she had won the belt two years earlier.
In the main event, Georges St-Pierre returned after four years away and submitted Michael Bisping by third-round rear-naked choke to win the middleweight title, becoming the fourth fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two divisions. It was the last fight of his UFC career.
Pereira’s Building Block
At UFC 281 on November 12, 2022, Alex Pereira stopped Israel Adesanya in the fifth and final round to take the middleweight title, after trailing on the scorecards. Pereira had beaten Adesanya twice in kickboxing; this was only his fourth fight in the UFC.
A year later, on November 11, 2023, at UFC 295, Pereira moved up to light heavyweight and stopped Jiří Procházka in the second round for the vacant title, left open after Jamahal Hill‘s injury. The night’s original main event, Jon Jones against Stipe Miocic, had been postponed by a Jones injury. Pereira became a two-division champion in just his seventh UFC fight.
Jones, Makhachev, and Now an American Challenger
On November 16, 2024, at UFC 309, Jon Jones retained the heavyweight title over Stipe Miocic, stopping him in the third round with a spinning back kick to the body followed by a flurry of strikes. Miocic announced his retirement right after: “I’m done. I’m hanging ’em up. Thank God.”
On November 15, 2025, at UFC 322, Islam Makhachev beat Jack Della Maddalena by unanimous decision, 50-45 on all three cards, to win the welterweight title. It was his 16th straight UFC win, tying Anderson Silva’s record, and his second title in a second weight class.
Saturday, November 14, it is Ciryl Gane‘s turn to defend a heavyweight title at the Garden, against Josh Hokit, unbeaten in ten pro fights and chasing the kind of underdog moment MSG has made room for before. Early prelims start at 5 PM ET (2 PM PT), prelims at 7 PM ET (4 PM PT), and the main card at 9 PM ET (6 PM PT), streaming on Paramount+. In the UK, the main card airs in the early hours of Sunday morning. The full UFC 334 fight card and our UFC Tonight page list every bout and start time, and our American UFC fighters page tracks Hokit alongside the rest of the current US roster.
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