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Since 1879, the four arenas known as Madison Square Garden have hosted many sporting events, concerts, and political rallies.
Madison Square Garden was one of the primary centers of the boxing universe throughout its history and in all of its incarnations before Las Vegas became the sport's main center starting in the 1980s. However, MSG still hosts many significant fights. Some of the historic fights held at MSG have been:
After the New York State Athletic Commission authorized mixed martial events in 2016, the MSG has hosted multiple major bouts:
HBO World Championship Boxing is an American sports television series on premium television network HBO. It premiered on January 22, 1973, with a fight that saw George Foreman defeat Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica.
Andrzej Jan Gołota, best known as Andrew Golota, is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2013. He challenged four times for a heavyweight world title, and as an amateur won a bronze medal in the heavyweight division at the 1988 Olympics. Despite his accomplishments and more than 40 professional wins, Golota is perhaps best known for twice being disqualified against Riddick Bowe for repeated low blows in fights that Golota was winning. On October 4, 1997, he became the first Pole to challenge for a heavyweight boxing crown when he fought WBC champion Lennox Lewis at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. In November 2016, Golota was inducted into the Illinois Boxing Hall of Fame.
Chael Sonnen is an American submission grappling promoter, mixed martial arts (MMA) analyst, and retired mixed martial artist. Beginning his MMA career in 1997, Sonnen competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he became a top contender in both the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions and challenged for both the UFC Light Heavyweight and UFC Middleweight Championships. Sonnen has also fought in World Extreme Cagefighting, Pancrase, and most recently for Bellator MMA. Sonnen is often considered one of the best mixed martial artists never to have won a major MMA world championship and one of the sport's greatest trash-talkers.
The Minnesota Martial Arts Academy is a martial arts training center in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. It was founded in 1992 by Greg Nelson, a former NCAA Division 1 wrestler at the University of Minnesota.
Eddie Alvarez is an American professional mixed martial artist and bare-knuckle boxer who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of BKFC. He also formerly competed in the UFC and Bellator MMA, and also One FC winning world titles in each of the first two: the UFC Lightweight Championship once and the Bellator Lightweight World Championship twice. Alvarez was the first Lightweight champion in Bellator MMA. He has also competed for the Japanese DREAM promotion, where he fought in their inaugural Lightweight Grand Prix. Alvarez also fought once for ProElite's EliteXC.
Ryan DuWayne Bader is an American mixed martial artist currently signed to Bellator MMA where he is the current Bellator Heavyweight Champion in a continuous streak that is the longest of any Bellator Champion. He is also the former Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion, and the winner of the 2018 Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix Tournament. At Bellator 214, Bader became the first fighter in Bellator history to become champion in two weight divisions simultaneously. Prior to signing with Bellator, Bader competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the Light Heavyweight division and he was a cast member and winner of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir.
Yoel Romero Palacio is a Cuban professional mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division for Bellator MMA. Romero formerly competed in the Middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and was a challenger for the UFC Middleweight Championship.
Phil Kwabina Davis is an American mixed martial artist who currently competes as a Light Heavyweight for Bellator MMA, where he is the former Bellator Light Heavyweight World Champion. Prior to signing with Bellator, Davis competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he achieved success as a top 5 Light Heavyweight contender and held a UFC record of 9–3 (1). He is currently ranked as the #7 Light Heavyweight fighter in the world by ranking site Fight Matrix. Davis first gained athletic notoriety in college as a wrestler for Penn State University, where he became an NCAA Division I champion in 2008.
Jessica Aguilar is a Mexican mixed martial artist who competes in RIZIN. At the time of her voluntary departure from World Series of Fighting, she was the reigning WSOF Women's Strawweight Champion. Aguilar previously competed for Bellator Fighting Championships and Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Michael Chandler is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Chandler previously competed for Bellator MMA from 2010 through 2020 where he became a three-time Bellator Lightweight Champion and was the winner of the Bellator Season Four Lightweight Tournament. As of May 7, 2024, he is #6 in the UFC lightweight rankings.
Carla Esparza is an American professional mixed martial artist and wrestler who competes in the Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in which she is the former two-time UFC Women's Strawweight Champion. Esparza was the first UFC Strawweight Champion, the first Invicta FC Strawweight Champion, and was generally considered the best Strawweight fighter in the world during both title reigns. She first earned the UFC championship by winning a 16-woman tournament that was televised on the reality series The Ultimate Fighter. She also competed in Bellator MMA's first women's tournament.
Corey Anderson is an American mixed martial artist currently competing for Bellator MMA in the light heavyweight division, where he is the current Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion. Prior to signing with Bellator, Anderson competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was the light heavyweight winner on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn and achieved success as a top 5 UFC light heavyweight contender.
2016 in Bellator MMA was the eighth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promoter based in the United States. Bellator held 23 events in 2016.
UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor was a mixed martial arts event promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 12, 2016, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
2017 in Bellator MMA was the tenth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 26 events in 2017.
UFC 217: Bisping vs. St-Pierre was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 4, 2017, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
UFC 230: Cormier vs. Lewis was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on November 3, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
G1 Supercard was a professional wrestling supershow co-produced by the American Ring of Honor (ROH) and Japanese New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotions. It was the 13th annual Supercard of Honor event and took place on April 6, 2019, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The event was streamed live on Honor Club, New Japan Pro-Wrestling World, FITE TV, and broadcast live on traditional pay-per-view outlets. It is the final Supercard of Honor to be produced under Sinclair ownership.
Lucha Invades NY was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced and scripted by the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), in partnership with Impact Wrestling. The event took place on September 15, 2019, at Madison Square Garden's Hulu Theater in New York City.
UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 12, 2022, at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, United States.
In 1939, the German American Bund organized a rally of 20,000 Nazi supporters at Madison Square Garden in New York City.