Liam Happe

UFC’s first bite of the Big Apple: In February 2013, Ronda Rousey won the first ever women’s bout under the Ultimate Fighting Championship banner. She did so by tapping out Liz Carmouche. And it was Carmouche who was also one half of the first UFC bout to take place in New York, as the first prelim bout of the Madison Square Garden card opposite Katlyn Chookagian. On the winning side of a breakthrough moment this time, Carmouche wasn’t entirely convincing but did enough to get a split decision over three rounds and add a far happier ‘first’ to her resumé.

Farewell and thank you, Miesha Tate: The main card on pay-per-view didn’t start with a bang, as former women’s bantamweight champion Tate came out second best to her former The Ultimate Fighter protege Raquel Pennington in what was expected to be Miesha’s rebound victory on the path back to title contention. Pennington’s workrate and tactics were great, but Tate just didn’t seem to be completely into the fight. Then, we found out why. Tate retired immediately after the bout, in a post-contest interview. Having enjoyed a successful and seminal career, and having been on the top of the mountain, Tate was ready to step away. But it’s worth remembering that the efforts and accomplishments of Tate and others has in turn allowed her to retire from a division in rude health. Tate helped put MMA at the forefront of women’s sports and it’s been a pleasure watching her compete.

Frankie Edgar’s NY chase gets a happy ending: New Jersey native and well-liked featherweight Edgar was one of those on the front line of MMA’s efforts to end their ban from the state. As a result, he was one of several fighters with a lot more riding on the outcome of their bout. He would weather some dangerous strikes from Jeremy Stephens and outwork his compatriot to earn the decision. The MSG crowd loved it. All of Edgar’s work had paid off - not just in training for his latest test, but to be able to do so at the Garden in front of his own.

Yoel Romero could be the man to end Michael Bisping’s reign: Just as instrumental in UFC’s debut in NYC (and thus, just as popular inside the Garden) was former middleweight champ Chris Weidman. He didn’t get his happy ending, however, thanks to a thunderous counter knee from Romero. The Cuban then challenged current titlist Bisping - in attendance as part of television coverage - who responded by flipping Yoel a pair of middle fingers. To be honest, if Romero is indeed enforced as the Brit’s next challenger, it could well be the end of his unlikely reign. Bisping even admitted in an interview that he would rather look at other options. The question is, can he look past Romero after his explosive MSG win?

And speaking of challengers worth avoiding: On the prelim card, Khabib Murmagomedov continued his superb run with by dominating Michael Johnson, putting him in contention for the lightweight title won in the main event by Conor McGregor. Branding McGregor a “chicken”, Khabib then masterfully turned the extremely pro-Conor crowd at MSG against him by comparing the Irish population to the sheer volume of Russia’s, and fan interest could be the way to try and force the fight to happen. However, many think McGregor will either return strictly to featherweight now or end up fighting someone else for the lightweight belt. Hopefully Conor v Khabib ends up getting to the stage where UFC have no choice but to make it happen - and if McGregor responds to some of tonight’s baiting, that will certainly help the cause.

Controversy and confusion in the chief support fight: Tyron Woodley’s welterweight championship defense against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson was a five-round belter, with many feeling the challenger claimed three rounds to the champ’s two but with a belief that round four - in which Woodley almost finished off Thompson - could well be a 10-8. Indeed, two of the three judges had it at 47-47 while one had it 48-47 for Woodley. Bruce Buffer then announced Tyron as the winner via split decision… when such a result is in fact a majority draw. They actually got as far as halfway through Woodley’s victory interview when they abruptly stopped everything and had Buffer clarify his announcement. Indeed, ‘The Chosen One’ retains but did not formally defeat his opponent. It was a strange snafu for the usually superbly-run operation, and a sour final note for what was a tremendous title fight.