10 Ways UFC Has Grown In The Last 10 Years

Madison Square Garden is without a shadow of a doubt, the holy grail of sporting arenas.

The Garden has played home to the Rangers and Knicks for over 50 years and hosted moments of iconic status. Ali vs. Fraser, three WrestleManias, John Lennon, Elton John and Elvis Presley have all graced the venue and cemented its status as the place to be if you want to go down in history.

For twenty years, MMA had only dreamt of being allowed through the doors of the sacred building. This being down to a ban on MMA in the state of New York that had been put into place by former governor George Pataki in 1997, who at the time didn't see the sport as safe or well regulated.

Ironically, it was in New Jersey - just across the river - that the set of rules that became the standard for MMA were made. This led to a slow but sure legalizing of the sport across the country.

New York clearly weren't happy that their neighbours set the ball rolling and were keen to be the odd ones out. Thankfully for UFC, the sport has evolved into such a professional and legitimate discipline that it now just doesn't make sense to void such a vocal sporting crowd of the chance to see the spectacle live.

UFC 244 will mean that the promotion are now heading back to NYC for the second time, with Jorge Masvidal vs. Nate Diaz headlining the card.