The Ultimate Fighting Championship rolled into Madison Square Garden in New York, NY, tonight (Saturday, November 12, 2016) with one of the deepest slates of talent in history.
The fights delivered on the hype.
In the main event, Conor McGregor turned in a masterful performance in dismantling defending lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. In doing so, ‘Notorious’, the reigning featherweight ruler, became the first man in UFC history to hold championships in two weight classes simultaneously. He knocked Alvarez down three times in the first round with devastating counter left hands. He did the trick one more time in the second, and he pounced on a dazed Alvarez to seal the victory.
The middle fight of the title tripleheader was marred by controversy, but it was a fantastic fight. Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley took down the challenger, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, in the first round and battered him. Two lackluster rounds followed for the champ, as Thompson got back into the fight with volume kickboxing and distance control. ‘The Chosen One’ nearly ended the proceedings several times in the fourth round, however, and it proved to be a 10-8 round that saved his title. A crushing right hand, ground and pound, and a vice-like guillotine could not put the supremely tough ‘Wonderboy’ away.
The scorecards were read 47-47, 47-47, and 48-47 Woodley, and the fight was mistakenly declared a split decision for Woodley. Part-way through the post-fight interview, a correction was read that the fight was a majority draw. Woodley retained his title, but did not claim the victory. Boos rained down from the crowd at the confusing and unsatisfying result.
In the first title tilt of the evening, Joanna Jedrzejczyk defeated countrywoman Karolina Kowalkiewicz by unanimous decision in a fight she largely dominated. Superior power, combinations, and leg kicks buoyed ‘Joanna Champion’ to a 3-0 lead on the scorecards, but Kowalkiewicz got her licks in. The challenger looked to be on the brink of stealing the belt in round four, when she caught Jedrzejczyk moving forward onto a hard shot, wobbling the champion’s legs. Joanna survived, but by the end of the fight, she sported a grisly hematoma on the right side of her face so that everyone watching knew she had been in a fight.
Check out Twitter’s reaction to these historic bouts below:
I expect Alvarez to attack Connors lead leg with kicks and work the takedown. Should be an awesome fight. #UFC205
— Joe Lauzon (@JoeLauzon) November 13, 2016
Alvarez has a couple of different paths to victory – pressure and sticking and moving – but can he deal with McGregor's power? #UFC205
— Patrick Wyman (@Patrick_Wyman) November 13, 2016
2 seconds in and Eddie's wife is already screaming at the top of her lungs, like every time he fights. Jesus, someone tell her to be quiet!
— Fury's Fight Picks (@FurysFightPicks) November 13, 2016
Holy shit. Eddie dropped already!!! #ufc205
— The Spartan (@EliasTheodorou) November 13, 2016
Less than 90 seconds for Alvarez to get zapped by counter hook, die and resurrect his corpse instantaneously. Give us bounty, violence gods.
— Jordan Breen (@jordanbreen) November 13, 2016
Wow! That accuracy though! ???? #UFC205 #ConorMcGregor
— Yves Edwards (@thugjitsumaster) November 13, 2016
Fuck it. McGregor is miraculous. #UFCNYC
— MiddleEasy (@MiddleEasy) November 13, 2016
Damn it. Damn it.
— midnite (@123midnite) November 13, 2016
That looked to easy. Wow.
— Tito Ortiz (@titoortiz) November 13, 2016
I say @ufc we get @natediaz209 vs TheNotoriousMMA 3 https://t.co/55aINta4EF
— Roy Nelson (@roynelsonmma) November 13, 2016
GET MY NIGGA HIS OTHER BELT THO
— GFKonMMA (@GFKonMMA) November 13, 2016
Conor McGregor's world. An absolute monster. Good luck to the UFC handling him now.
— Josh Gross (@yay_yee) November 13, 2016
he just like "our god is an awesome god… and he empowered me to hit yall with flippy kick shit from mad varied angles, take a nap b."
— GFKonMMA (@GFKonMMA) November 13, 2016
Incoming ninja shit. This is not a drill. ??????
— Anton Tabuena (@antontabuena) November 13, 2016
Let's go T-Wood. @TWooodley
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) November 13, 2016
MY NIGGA T WOOD WILL FLATTEN WONDERBREAD WITH ONE T BOMB TO THE TEMPLE #ANDSTILL#REALNIGGASOFTHEUFC#HANDSDOWNMANDOWN
— UFC YouTube Comments (@UFC_YT_Comments) November 13, 2016
If Woodley falls in love with his hands, he’s going to fall in love with the canvas in the worst way. #UFC205
— Andreas Hale (@AndreasHale) November 13, 2016
Woodley's got the cake to finish this. #ExplosiveBooty #AthleticGlutes ????????????????#ufc205
— Angela Hill (@AngieOverkill) November 13, 2016
Woodley's mom is hollering at him from cageside
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) November 13, 2016
Wonderboy is leaking. #ufc205
— The Spartan (@EliasTheodorou) November 13, 2016
That woodley stand over at the end tho #ufc205
— Jerome-Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) November 13, 2016
Thompson on getting taken to the ground in the next round. #UFC205 pic.twitter.com/ZwHXO6WV7c
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) November 13, 2016
Thompson just apologized for dropping his mouthpiece
— caposa (@GrabakaHitman) November 13, 2016
When shit get real these karate dudes fold. I been saying it since the beginning. This ain't new
— Kevin Lee (@MoTownPhenom) November 13, 2016
Wow Wonderboy is terrible off his back, offered nothing!
— Ben Askren (@Benaskren) November 13, 2016
Woodley shows exactly why he keeps his back to the cage – grabs Wonderboy, spins, pins him to the cage. No escape now. #UFC205
— Iain Kidd (@iainkidd) November 13, 2016
Spinning back kick by Thompson lands. Woodley shakes his head but that shit hurt. #UFC205
— Andreas Hale (@AndreasHale) November 13, 2016
Surprisingly, Wonderboy's bloody geyser has been dormant throughout the second #UFC205
— Mike Sloan (@MikeSloan19) November 13, 2016
Dear Tyron: remember how you dominated the first round? Maybe consider doing that again?#ufc205
— Jonathan Snowden (@JESnowden) November 13, 2016
Thompson's round, and I have him up 29-28. Woodley is coming SO close on some of these right hands, though. Scary fighter. #UFC205
— Connor Ruebusch (@BoxingBusch) November 13, 2016
Mirgliotta waiting for the hearse before he stops the fight. #UFC205 #UFCNYC
— Stephie Haynes (@CrooklynMMA) November 13, 2016
OMFG HOW IS IT NOT OVER ALREADY#!!!!! #UFCNYC
— MiddleEasy (@MiddleEasy) November 13, 2016
WTF is going on#ufc205
— Jerome-Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) November 13, 2016
HE'S A WONDERMAN NOW #UFC205
— Eric Stinton (@TombstoneStint) November 13, 2016
This fucking fight
— caposa (@GrabakaHitman) November 13, 2016
Gnarly
— Andre Fili (@TouchyFili) November 13, 2016
— JustBleedMMA (@JustBleedMMA) November 13, 2016
Everyone watching #UFC205 #UFCNYC pic.twitter.com/Hdc8ADVqkB
— Zombie Prophet (@ZPGIFs) November 13, 2016
And the winner…. Excuse me, I mean draw. #UFC205 pic.twitter.com/7bbRUFlHxY
— Mike Jackson, Esq. (@TheTruthJackson) November 13, 2016
So you should have just seen me have to explain that decision to all these casual fans here in Thailand lol
— James Vick (@JamesVickMMA) November 13, 2016
Demian Maia is somewhere slamming his fist through a wall. He's the biggest loser of that result.
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) November 13, 2016
AAAANNNNNDDDDDD WAIT…. #UFC205 #UFCNYC pic.twitter.com/Yu8G08bG87
— Zombie Prophet (@ZPGIFs) November 13, 2016
Tyron Woodley when Buffer came over and corrected the score to a draw. #UFC205 pic.twitter.com/ETIiLyCIDn
— Fury's Fight Picks (@FurysFightPicks) November 13, 2016
Congrats to both fighters for a very good fight.Woodley is still the champ,and I'm ready to fight him. I deserve my chance now, my turn @ufc
— Demian Maia (@demianmaia) November 13, 2016
I'm not even sure Karolina has a puncher's chance to win this fight. JJ better in every way. A freak injury chance? #UFC205
— Paul Gift (@MMAanalytics) November 13, 2016
I try to tear your face in half to stop your dreams. #ufc205 https://t.co/jDXLQlyy08
— MiddleEasy (@MiddleEasy) November 13, 2016
More of the same: Joanna doing whatever she wants and Karolina not good enough to really get in there and change the pace #UFC205
— Mike Sloan (@MikeSloan19) November 13, 2016
DAT ELBOW THO #UFC205
— Tommy Toe Hold (@TommyToeHold) November 13, 2016
I'd watch a travel show where Joanna Violence just goes around elbowing things. Cars. Hamburgers. A basketball. Whatever.
— Suzanne Davis (@SoozieCuzie) November 13, 2016
Shades of Fitch-GSP here. It's notably rough to fight someone who's a similar basic type of fighter, but just more athletic and skilled.
— Phil Mackenzie (@EvilGregJackson) November 13, 2016
Jedrzejczyk is cracked by a missile and she is rocked badly. Karolina chases her down and looks to close it out #UFC205
— Sherdog.com (@sherdogdotcom) November 13, 2016
JEDRZEJCZYK IS HURT
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) November 13, 2016
OH MY FUCKING GOOOOODDDD!! #UFCNYC
— Justin Golightly (@SecretMovesMMA) November 13, 2016
Kowalkiewicz tags Jedrzejczyk! MMA. Gotta guard that chin. #UFC205
— Jon Anik (@Jon_Anik) November 13, 2016
Karolina CRACKS Joanna! Finally made this a fight. Holy shit. #UFC205
— Andreas Hale (@AndreasHale) November 13, 2016
I must say @KarolinaMMA , u made me a fan!!! The hell with the decision. Let's get married..Have some babies. @ufc #UFCNYC
— Stephan Bonnar (@StephanBonnar) November 13, 2016
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