If you want to relive the historic UFC 205 event, you’ll get your chance this Friday night (Feb. 3).
On Nov. 12, 2016 history was made. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) held its first event in New York City after a 19-year ban was finally lifted by the state of New York. That history making event was UFC 205 and it took place inside Madison Square Garden.
The card was so big that it outmatched UFC 200’s pay-per-view (PPV) buys and most would say it easily had the better quality match-ups. While it’s obvious that the first UFC event in the “Big Apple” was going to draw attention, it was clearly heightened by its headliner.
Then featherweight title holder Conor McGregor looked to be the first fighter in the UFC to hold two belts simultaneously. To do that, he needed to get past lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. “Notorious” passed the test with flying colors. He knocked out Alvarez in the second round and apologized “to absolutely nobody.”
The co-main event also featured a title bout. Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley had his first title defense against Stephen Thompson. “Wonderboy” showed tremendous heart against “The Chosen One.” Woodley blasted the challenger with shots and bloodied him up in the fight.
At one point, Woodley locked in a tight guillotine and it looked as if Thompson was done. He was able to get his head free to the roar of 20,000+ fans in attendance. The challenger made it close enough to where the judges couldn’t agree on a winner.
UFC announcer Bruce Buffer initially named Woodley the winner, but it was a mistake. The fight was ruled a majority draw. Woodley and Thompson will have a title rematch on March 4 at UFC 209.
The other two bouts on the card saw Yoel Romero crumple Chris Weidman with a flying knee to the temple and Miesha Tate announce her retirement after losing to Raquel Pennington. UFC 205 Reloaded will air on FOX Sports 1 at 9:30 p.m. ET.