It’s official: Conor McGregor will headline UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden in New York City in November, and he’ll attempt to make some history in the process.
Late Monday, the UFC confirmed that McGregor will headline UFC 205 on Nov. 12, which will be the UFC’s first event in NYC since 1997 when the state of New York imposed a ban on professional MMA fights. McGregor will fight current lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, and Alvarez’s lightweight championship belt will be on the line during the 155-pound title fight. And if McGregor—who currently holds the UFC’s featherweight championship belt—wins the fight, he will join B.J. Penn and Randy Couture as the only fighters in UFC history to hold championship belts in more than one weight class simultaneously. McGregor will not have to defend his featherweight belt between now and UFC 205.
McGregor is yet to comment on his UFC 205 fight, but UFC president Dana White revealed why he chose to match him up with Alvarez at the historic event. "This is the fight the fans wanted," he told ESPN, "and I’m excited that our very first event at Madison Square Garden will be headlined by Eddie Alvarez defending the lightweight title against Conor McGregor. This card has three world title fights and is the best card in UFC history."
UFC 205 will also feature welterweight champion Tyron Woodley fighting Stephen Thompson and strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk fighting Karolina Kowalkiewicz. McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh responded to the news about his fight with Alvarez on Twitter early Tuesday by posting this on Twitter:
Sounds like UFC 205 will be quite the event.
