It’s hard to imagine, but Saturday’s UFC return to Madison Square Garden will be the ninth time the Octagon has been set up in “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
From the spectacular debut in 2016, highlighted by Conor McGregor’s lightweight championship triumph, to Alex Pereira making MSG his own stomping grounds each of the previous three years, these yearly journeys to New York City have always been electrifying, and this year should be no exception.
Saturday’s pay-per-view promises to be enthralling from the start, with a historic heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic and a superb undercard from top to bottom.
The current heavyweight champion squares up against the most decorated heavyweight titleholder in UFC history to finish off this weekend’s fight program, as Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic finally share the Octagon.
Jones, perhaps the best fighter in the sport’s history, earned the heavyweight championship with a quick and very easy first-round submission win against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285, joining the elite group of athletes who have won UFC gold in both weight divisions.
He was supposed to defend against Miocic last November, but he sustained a torn pectoral muscle in the buildup to the fight, leading to this one-year postponement, which means he has only fought once in the previous four years and nine months.
Miocic is the only heavyweight champion to successfully defend his championship three times. He hopes to make history by beating Jon Jones. The Ohio native has faced two opponents — Francis Ngannou and Daniel Cormier — a combined five times in his previous five fights, and he returns to action here for the first time since losing the belt at UFC 260 in March 2021.
