NEW YORK – It was a historical event by virtue of being the UFC's first event at Madison Square Garden, and when Conor McGregor defeated Eddie Alvarez to become the promotion's first two-division champion it only solidified the date.
And UFC 205 was historical in other ways, too. Saturday night's event broke the all-time MSG live gate record, bringing in 17.7 million, outdoing boxing's title tilt between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield back in 1999 ($13.5 million).
According to UFC president Dana White, the list of records goes on.
"Sitting here tonight we broke every record in UFC history tonight," he said in the post-fight press conference. "Every record. The only one I’m waiting on now is the FOX number, how did FOX Sports 1 do. It would be really, really weird and make no sense if we didn’t break that one too."
Ask to clarify if UFC 205 beat UFC 202 as the best selling pay-pew-view in company history, White was emphatic.
"We did," he said. "We broke the record."
UFC 205 was the promotion's first visit to New York since 1995 at UFC 7, and the first ever to Manhattan. The event was stacked, featuring three title fights and three former champions. The only belt that changed hands in the end was Alvarez's, as Tyron Woodley (majority draw) and Joanna Jedrzejczyk (unanimous decision) retained their titles.
As such, it was a hot ticket to have, with some tickets selling for as much as $18,000.
White said it was an expensive ticket, and he doesn't think anybody will ever break the $17.7 million dollar gate they did on Saturday.
"We definitely priced fans out," he said. "I mean there’s no doubt that that did happen. It’s not one of my favorite things to do, but basically it’s no different than…it’s dynamic pricing. It’s no different than a plane ticket. When there’s so much demand a plane ticket goes up. That’s what happened.
"I mean, the place was sold out. It was packed to the rafters. We broke the Madison Square Garden record, which I don’t think will ever be broken again. Jesus is going to have to fight the Devil to break that record man. I just don’t see what does it."