Did you know :The Second-Highest Grossing Event in MSG History Is UFC 295

The UFC 295 is the second highest paid event in the MSG history.

The UFC patiently awaited New York’s legalization of mixed martial arts. The UFC has become more visible in the state since the sport’s prohibition was lifted in 2016. Owing to the triumph of this past Saturday’s UFC 295 pay-per-view card, the promotion currently boasts the three highest-grossing events in Madison Square Garden history.

On November 11, UFC 295 took place, drawing 19,039 spectators and bringing in $12,432,563. Tom Aspinall defeated Sergei Pavlovich via first-round knockout to become the interim UFC heavyweight champion. In the main event of the evening, Alex Pereira defeated Jiri Prochazka, the previous light heavyweight champion, to take the vacant title and become a two-division UFC champion. The UFC middleweight title belonged to Pereira from November 2022 to April 2023.

As successful as UFC 295 was at the box office, its gate number fell short of the first UFC fight card to be held at MSG. That card, UFC 205, took place in November 2016 and drew 20,427 fans to the vaunted arena for a gate of $17,740,543. In the headlining bout of that event, Conor McGregor knocked out Eddie Alvarez to become the first UFC fighter to hold two titles at the same time. McGregor entered the octagon that night as the UFC featherweight champion. He added Alvarez’s UFC lightweight title to his trophy case with a second-round knockout win.

The third-highest gate in MSG history belongs to UFC 281, which took place on November 12, 2022. Pereira also fought in the main event of that card, facing then-UFC middleweight titleholder Israel Adesanya. Pereira won the belt that night with a knockout in the fifth round. In the co-headliner, Zhang Weili became a two-time UFC strawweight champion when she took the belt from Carla Esparza via second-round submission. UFC 281 had a gate of $11,562,807 and an attendance of 20,845.

In terms of total earnings, UFC 295 ranks as the fourth-highest pay-per-view event in the promotion’s history. UFC 205, UFC 229 ($17,200,000), and UFC 264 ($15,759,800) are the events that come after it. UFC 129 ($12,075,000) was the fifth-highest grossing UFC card to date.