During the past two decades, Las Vegas has staked its claim to the title of fight capital of the world. The UFC has held regular pay-per-view events in the city, while the world’s richest boxer, Floyd Mayweather, fights exclusively at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Even venues like AT&T Stadium in Dallas began hosting boxing and MMA fights in front of 40,000 fans. But the apple of the UFC's eye has long been New York and Madison Square Garden, and that becomes a reality Saturday when the octagon sits in the spotlight at UFC 205.
New York, as you mayhave heard, was the last state to legalize mixed martial arts, as an outdated law kept the world’s most popular combat sport out of the biggest media market in the country and out of an iconic venue that was once the fight capital of the world.