The historic UFC 205 was the first-ever UFC event to take place in the historic state of New York, in the worlds most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. With a stacked card, we were treated to three title fights, a number of huge names and up and coming stars.
Unfortunately, despite only taking place in 2016, almost all of those who featured on the main card have had rough careers since the event. Only a few names have shone, including Khabib Nurmagomedov. The Dagestani phenom took on Michael Johnson on the preliminary card, largely dominating the American before finishing him in the third round. He, as we know, went on to capture the lightweight title, make three defences and retire undefeated.
We take a look at those whose career’s haven’t faired as well following the brilliant UFC 205 card.
UFC 205
Fight Pass Prelims
Liz Carmouche vs. Katlyn Chookagian
Opening up the card we had a bantamweight bout between Carmouche and Chookagian. On the night, Carmouche gained a split decision victory. Following the bout, she went on to go 2-2 at flyweight in the UFC, including an unsuccessful title shot. She moved over to Bellator, going 3-0 for the promotion and seemingly being on the cusp of a title shot.
Chookagian also dropped down to flyweight after one more bantamweight bout, going 7-3 at the weight, also coming up short in a title fight. She’s currently riding a two-fight winning run, however, and is seemingly on the way back to a second title opportunity.
Jim Miller vs. Thiago Alves
On the night, Jim Miller defeated Thiago Alves by unanimous decision. Since then, Miller has continued to be a mainstay in the UFC. 12 fights later for Miller, he’s gone 4-8 but has faced names including Dustin Poirier, Dan Hooker and Charles Oliveira.
Alves had six fights in the UFC following UFC 205, with a record of 2-4. He parted ways with the UFC on a two-fight losing run and signed for BKFC, where he’s currently 2-0 and the first-ever middleweight champion of the organisation.
Preliminary Card
Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad
This is a fight that’s aged well. Luque has been on a tear since UFC 205. Although he lost his next bout to Leon Edwards, he holds a record of 10-2 since New York. 4-0 in his last four bouts, Luque is ranked #4 at welterweight and is looking on the cusp of a title shot.
Muhammad suffered his first TKO loss to Luque at UFC 205, however, it didn’t knock his progress too much. 9-1-0-1 since the bout in New York, he’s making waves in the welterweight division. With only the one finish on this run, he needs to finish more bouts to become a real contender at 170lbs.
Tim Boetsch vs. Rafael Natal
On the night, Boetsch finished Natal via knockout. However, since then, both men have retired with a record of 1-4 since UFC 205.
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Michael Johnson
We’ve already mentioned how dominant Nurmagomedov has been since UFC 205. Johnson, on the other hand is 2-6 since their fight. He’s dropped down to featherweight, gone back up to lightweight and still can’t reclaim his form. Suffering 4 finishes in his six losses and four straight losses, Johnson looks to be in the twilight of his career.
Frankie Edgar vs. Jeremy Stephens
Coming off a featherweight title loss, Edgar dominated Stephens to a unanimous decision victory on the night. He went on to go 2-3 at featherweight, including an unsuccessful title shot. Having dropped down to bantamweight, he’s 1-1 at 135lbs, suffering a brutal KO loss most recently.
Stephens was on just a one-fight winning run entering UFC 205. Having lost to Edgar on the night, he has only enjoyed three wins, all of which came back-to-back. Granted, two of the three victories were brutal knockouts, but regardless, his record since UFC 205 is woeful. 3-6-0-1, Stephens is without a win in his last six fights, seemingly winding down his career.
Main Card
Raquel Pennington vs. Miesha Tate
Opening the main card we saw Pennington take on Tate. On the night, Tate retired from MMA following a loss but made an impressive return in 2021. She’s looking at making a charge on the title once again.
Pennington gained a title shot off the back of the Tate win, however, came up short. She would go on to lose two of her next four fights, missing weight on one occasion.
Yoel Romero vs. Chris Weidman
UFC 205 was a huge event itself, even more so for the New York native, Weidman. Coming off a devastating loss to Luke Rockhold, consequently losing his title, Weidman was looking to bounce back against Romero.
What played out, however, was brutal. Romero exploded with a flying knee, knocking ‘The All American’ out. Since then, Weidman has fallen on extremely hard times, even trying to restart his career at light heavyweight. Going 2-4, Weidman is looking to recover from a broken leg before making a comeback.
Romero had three title shots off the back of UFC 205, all of which were unsuccessful. He holds a record of 1-4 since New York and will be making his Bellator debut in September.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
The first title bout of UFC 205 was for the women’s strawweight strap between two undefeated Polish stars. Jedrzejczyk came away from the bout the victor via unanimous decision. Since the bout, Jedrzejczyk made just one more title defence before falling on a rough patch of form. Her post-UFC 205 record stands at 3-4, including three further shots at gold, all of which were unsuccessful.
Kowalkiewicz has really struggled since New York. It appears as if the title opportunity will be the highlight of her career. She has gone 2-6 since her fight with Jedrzejczyk, including currently being on a disappointing five-fight losing streak.
The two women have since trained together and appeared to have quashed their rivalry.
Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson
The fight of the night at UFC 205 saw Woodley and Thompson fight out a majority draw. In a close fight that saw Woodley almost finish the fight on two occasions, the two left it all in the octagon. They rematched in the March of the following year, where Woodley would edge out a close decision. Woodley would go on to make two further title defences before dropping off in a staggering manner. He lost the best part of 15 rounds in his next three bouts, followed by a finish loss in his final UFC bout. He’s set to face Jake Paul in a boxing match at the end of August.
Thompson has traded wins and losses since New York, going 3-3, as well as suffering his first knockout loss. He appeared to be on the brink of a title opportunity, however, lost to Gilbert Burns most recently, knocking him down the pecking order.
Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez
The main event saw history made when Conor McGregor dominated Eddie Alvarez to capture the lightweight title, whilst still holding the featherweight belt. In a flawless performance, McGregor dominated the American.
Since then, he’s gone on to box Floyd Mayweather, have an unsuccessful title shot in the UFC, suffer his first knockout loss, had no fewer than eight run-ins with law enforcement, posted countless vile tweets and fallen to an MMA record of 1-3. To say he’s fallen from grace is an understatement.
Alvarez has gone 2-3 with two no contests. He signed for ONE Championship but has gone 1-2-0-1 since signing for the promotion and is seemingly winding down his career.
Total Record Since UFC 205
The record of all of the fighters combined who competed at UFC 205 doesn’t make for good reading. Overall, they’re 72-73-0-4.
Featured Image
Embed from Getty Images
