A majority of the crowd didn't show up until the Khabib Nurmagomedov and Michael Johnson fight, missing the historic first MMA fight in New York between Liz Carmouche and Katlyn Chookagian, and the 3 other early prelims (including two first round knockouts). Khabib's expert grappling and groundwork should be enough to entitle him to be the next contender of the 155 pound title. Nurmagomedov has been outspoken about only fighting for the belt in his next fight, even yelling at Dana White during the fight. The Russian then did a heel turn, calling out McGregor and taunting the Irish fans in attendance.
Next fight up had local hero Frankie Edgar win in typical Frankie fashion. Edgar, who is famous for being to be able to withstand a lot of punishment, was caught with a devastating head kick in the second round by Jeremy Stephens, but was able to outwrestle him for the win. There were a lot of chants of "Who the Fook is that guy" at Stephens, off of McGregor's comment at the press conference. There is a lot of questions about where Edgar goes from here. The Featherweight division is in a holding pattern, with McGregor having to decide which division he wants to stay in, and Jose Aldo holding out. I can't see Frankie getting a third chance against the Brazilian interim Champion, but it's possible he fights the winner of Anthony Pettis and Max Holloway. Another possibility is moving down to 135 for the winner of UFC 207's Dominic Cruz and Cody Garbrandt Bantamweight Championship fight.
Kicking off the pay-per view portion of the card, Raquel Pennington defeated her former head coach on the Ultimate Fighter, Miesha Tate. Tate announced her retirement after the fight, but said it was a spur of the moment decision. I wouldn't be surprised to see her return. Chris Weidman didn't have the same home town advantage as Frankie Edgar, getting caught by a flying knee by Yoel Romero when going for a takedown early in the third round that busted him open. Yoel called out Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping after the fight.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk had a fairly easy title defense against Karolina Kowalkiewicz, aside from a flurry by the challenger in the fourth round. Then, Tyron Woodley and Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson had the Fight of the Night with a closely contended Welterweight Championship fight. Woodley almost had the fight won twice in the fourth round, rocking Wonderboy, and then unable to pull off a tight guillotine choke. After a brief confusion, Bruce Buffer read the scores, saying two judges scored the fight 47-47, with Woodley getting a 10-8 fourth round, and one judge scored the fight 48-47 for Woodley, giving the fight to Woodley by majority decision. Then, during Woodley's interview with Joe Rogan, the decision was changed to a majority draw, with Woodley keeping the belt anyway. This should set up an immediate rematch.
There was no doubt that the Irish fans had taken over Madison Square Garden. Conor McGregor was the most popular fighter, and Philly's Eddie Alvarez was booed heavily. Everyone was on their feet for this fight, with The Notorious One toying with Alvarez, knocking him down three times, before putting him away with a four-punch combo in the second round. UFC dropped the ball by not having two belts for McGregor, needing to borrow Woodley's belt after Conor ranted to Joe Rogan. McGregor came up with another catchphrase telling Joe Rogan how he's rubbed a lot of fighters the wrong way and "I want to apologize... for absolutely nothing". This led the Irish crowd taking over Midtown Manhattan, chanting 'Ole, and the "McGregor Wonderland" song late into the night outside of MSG.
A more humble McGregor approached the media at the post fight press conference. He admitted his girlfriend is having a baby and is nervous about it. He wants to take some time off to be with his family, and will probably fight again in the summer. McGregor also claimed that he'd like an ownership share to get him to fight again. Seeing how the new owners deal with this situation will be interesting. Conor is no doubt their biggest draw, but can they let one man call his own shots?
Before the fight, Dana White said McGregor will have to relinquish one of his belts, and a week later, there has been no talk about which division he will stay in. At Featherweight, he has Jose Aldo waiting for his rematch, as well as Frankie Edgar, Max Holloway, and Anthony Pettis. At Lightweight, the possible contenders are Khabib, Tony Ferguson, and a trilogy fight with Nate Diaz. There are also rumors McGregor will move to 170 to become the first fighter to hold gold in three weight classes. It will be something to keep an eye on.
UFC 205 was a historic event that lived up to the hype, unlike the disappointing UFC 200. The Octagon didn't feel out of place taking center stage at Madison Square Garden. Dana White said they're probably only running MSG once a year, but will hold show all around the Empire State, with UFC 209 scheduled for Brooklyn in February.
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