The fifth UFC NYC PPV is in the books with the completion of UFC 268 on Saturday night. All five events have been held in Madison Square Garden, with the venue playing host to some of the top moments in UFC history.
UFC 268 is now a part of that legacy, delivering some iconic fights from top to bottom. The action was so furious through the night that the event actually set a new record for significant strikes landed on a UFC card, topping the old record by more than 150 strikes.
#UFC268 featured a grand total of 1,973 significant strikes landed, a new single-event UFC record. The previous record belonged to UFC 238: Cejudo vs. Moraes which featured 1,818.
— UFC News (@UFCNews) November 7, 2021
The action from UFC 268 got us wondering where the event ranks among the five events held in MSG. Did it lock down the No. 1 spot? Let's take a look.
1. UFC 268
Recency bias could be at play here, but UFC 268 is now the greatest card in the history of the UFC's trips to Madison Square Garden. A bit of a slow start on the early prelims was quickly washed away when Chris Barnett spun his large frame 360 degrees to knock Gian Villante out with a wheel kick. That kicked off a run of six consecutive knockouts, including the debut of kickboxing superstar Alex Pereira.
OH MY BEAST BOYYYYYYYYY 😤
— UFC (@ufc) November 6, 2021
[ #UFC268 | Early Prelims are LIVE on @UFCFightPass & ESPN+ ] pic.twitter.com/cRf5Z3ocq6
Where UFC 268 goes to another level is with the fantastic brawl between Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler. Those two men put on a stunning show that goes on the shortlist of the very best fights in UFC history. In fact, the fight was so good that the following bout felt somewhat flat despite Shane Burgos and Billy Quarantillo landing a record number of significant strikes for a three-round featherweight fight. In fact, Burgos, Quarantillo, Gaethje and Chandler landed a combined 576 significant strikes. Add in a pair of competitive, compelling title fights and you have the best NYC UFC in history.
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2. UFC 205
UFC 205 was the promotion's first event held in New York City after the legalization of mixed martial arts in the state, a novelty factor that would make the event a big deal no matter what. The card featured three championship fights, including Conor McGregor's bid to become the first UFC fighter to ever hold championships in two weight classes simultaneously. McGregor, then the featherweight champion, beat Eddie Alvarez in dominant fashion to win the lightweight championship and become the "champ champ." The two other title fights on the card featured a great bout between welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson that went to a draw and Joanna Jedrzejczyk dominating Karolina Kowalkiewicz to retain the women's strawweight title.
The event featured eight fighters who were either former, current or future world championships. The depth of the card shines through when you consider that Khabib Nurmagomedov was on the prelims, still working his way toward a title shot. Even the early prelims featured big names, including a fight between Jim Miller and Thiago Alves. UFC 205 has a case as one of the best card UFC has ever put together anywhere.
3. UFC 217
The UFC's second trip to MSG again brought a card with three title fights. This time, all three titles changed hands, a first in UFC history. In the main event, Georges St-Pierre returned to action for the first time in more than four years as he moved up in weight to battle 185-pound champion Michael Bisping. St-Pierre won the championship via third-round rear-naked choke after a bloody and thrilling bout. Jedrzejczyk's long reign as strawweight champion came to an end when Rose Namajunas scored a stunning first-round TKO. In the other title fight on the card, TJ Dillashaw scored a TKO of Cody Garbrandt to win the bantamweight championship in a slugfest.
UFC 217 had a deep card, though not quite as deep on the prelims as UFC 205, especially given the benefit of hindsight on things like Nurmagomedov's ascent. The preliminary card headliner was James Vick vs. Joseph Duffy. Aside from Curtis Blaydes and Walt Harris, the prelims were lacking in anyone who factors into the top end of the current UFC picture.
4. UFC 244
UFC 244 drew massive amounts of attention for the bout between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz over the "BMF championship" that was created just for that fight. There were no "real" title fights scheduled for the event, marking the first time a UFC card in New York City had been set without one. Still, Masvidal vs. Diaz was a huge draw that even brought out Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to put the BMF belt around Masvidal's waist following a complete and total domination of Diaz.
There was plenty of action on the card. Corey Anderson's knockout of Johnny Walker and Kevin Lee's brutal head kick stoppage of Gregor Gillespie both stood out as highlights, even if Lee has lost both fights since and Anderson was knocked out by Jan Blachowicz and sent to Bellator. Stephen Thompson was once again in action in MSG, winning a thriller against Vicente Luque that earned Fight of the Night. Still, without the title fights or depth of 205 and 217, UFC 244 sits below those events.
5. UFC 230
UFC 230 is the outlier for UFC cards held in Madison Square Garden. Two-division champion Daniel Cormier headlined the event, defending his heavyweight championship against Derrick Lewis in a fight that Cormier easily dominated for the second-round submission. The card was cobbled together a bit, with Valentina Shevchenko and Sijara Eubanks for the vacant women's flyweight championship set as the original main event. Both women were pulled from other bouts to participate in the main event only for Shevchenko to be moved back to her originally planned fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 231 once Cormier vs. Lewis was locked up for the main event.
Yoel Romero vs. Paulo Costa was pushed from the card, as was Dustin Poirier vs. Nate Diaz and Luke Rockhold vs. Chris Weidman. Weidman would stay on the card, facing Jacare Souza, but the loss of those top-tier fights led to a card well below what the UFC had brought to New York City previously. Future middleweight champion Israel Adesanya did make an appearance on the card with an impressive first-round TKO of Derek Brunson, but UFC 230 remains the bottom-tier event of UFC in NYC history.
