THE UFC’s latest trip to Madison Square Garden once again provided another historical night.
The MMA leader held its penultimate pay-per-view event of the year, UFC 295, in front of a sold-out crowd a The World’s Most Famous Arena early on Sunday morning.
Two titles – the light-heavy and heavyweight belts – were claimed in blistering fashion in the main and co-main events of the evening.
Alex Pereira became the fastest two-weight champion in UFC history with a second-round TKO victory over former 205lbs king Jiri Prochazka in the card’s showpiece bout.
And in the co-main event, Tom Aspinall became only the third Brit to win a title in MMA’s top promotion with a brutal first-round victory over fellow heavy hitter Sergei Pavlovich.
UFC 295’s main card produced FIVE sensational finishes – each of which blew the roof off of MSG.
But viewers at home missed several notable moments, which SunSport were lucky enough to catch in person.
Check them out below.
Former president of the United States Donald Trump decided to rock up to MSG just after the prelims were in the books.
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Trump, 77, received a chorus of cheers every time he came up on the big screen – with some being bigger than the pops fighters received.
But it was his entrance into the arena which nearly blew the roof off the mecca of combat sports.
Fans went bananas during the non-aired transition between the prelims to the main card as Trump strolled in with UFC president Dana White and former FOX News host Tucker Carlson by his side.
And the UFC gave him a WWE-worthy entrance by blaring out Kid Rock’s ‘American Badass’, a former theme of the Undertaker‘s, as he rolled in.
MSG erupted in a cacophony of noise after Aspinall landed what proved to be a life-changing hammer fist on a fallen Pavlovch, who he’d knocked down with a peach of a right hand.
Those in the VVIP seats in the vicinity of White and Trump couldn’t believe their eyes. White’s reaction itself was very telling to just how far he thinks Aspinall can go.
As an emotional Aspinall wheeled away in delight and tried to process his historic achievement, White immediately jumped out of his seat.
And SunSport caught the veteran promoter – who sung the Wigan warrior’s praises in the post-fight press conference – high-fiving Kid Rock, who was also in awe of the stoppage.
Newly crowned WWE United States champ Logan Paul made a subdued entrance into the arena midway through the main card.
But what the broadcast didn’t show was that the YouTube sensation – who was accompanied by his fiancee Nina Agdal – proudly wore his world title on his right shoulder.
Paul being in attendance was far from a shock given the UFC’s recent merger with the WWE.
Expect more big-name wrestlers to be in attendance at UFC shows going forward.
Steve-O is a long-time fan of mixed martial arts’ top promotion – so much so that he was one of the few celebs in attendance for the early prelims.
The world-famous Jackass star was enthralled as he took in the early fights, which he dipped in and out of to go backstage and take selfies with fans.
Perhaps an even bigger fan of the sport than Steve-O is rapper Action Bronson, who is pals with bantamweight title contender Marlon Vera.
The 39-year-old, who has undergone a dramatic body transformation in recent years, was in the cageside VIP seats from the first fight until the culmination of the main event.
We rarely saw him take a bathroom break, something we couldn’t say about ourselves.
