Renzo Gracie excited for UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden – a parking lot away from his gym

With five fighters representing his gym at Nov. 12’s UFC 205 in New York City, UFC and PRIDE vet Renzo Gracie (13-7-1) is happy to finally have an event in his backyard – an expression that, in this particular case, is barely an exaggeration.

“All you have to do is cross the parking lot,” Gracie told MMAjunkie Radio when asked about the proximity of Renzo Gracie Academy and Madison Square Garden. “When I park my car – you cross the parking lot in my gym. They can warm up there and go fight in MSG.”

Much like the rest of the MMA community, Gracie is excited about the UFC’s first incursion to the city of New York after the end of an eight-year-long legal battle for its legalization. The excitement, he believes, is pretty widespread – and he has a specific thermometer to make that assessment.

“I believe the sport is just going to grow with this new addition, in this amazing city on the tour of the fighting game,” Gracie said. “It’s already sold out, all the tickets, and it was the first time my wife actually asked, ‘Do you have tickets?’ It was the first time.

“That means that everybody is interested on going there to watch these amazing athletes going at each other and representing this amazing sport that we belong to.”

Historic location aside, UFC 205’s star-studded fight card has every reason to be met with anticipation – as if three championship bouts weren’t enough, it will feature a six-fight, four-hour-long main card.

In the headliner, featherweight champion Conor McGregor (20-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) looks to add a second belt to his waist when he takes on lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez (28-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC). McGregor, who predicted record-breaking pay-per-view numbers, could become the first UFC fighter to hold two titles simultaneously.

The co-main event features welterweight titleholder Tyron Woodley (16-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC), set to take on Stephen Thompson (13-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) for his first title defense. Polish strawweight Joanna Jedrzejczyk (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) will be the first champ to set foot on the octagon that night, putting her belt on the line against fellow countrywoman Karolina Kowalkiewicz (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC).

UFC 205’s pay-per-view main card starts at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT, but could run as late at 2 a.m. ET/11 p.m. PT depending on the fights’ pacing and duration. Prelims air on FS1 and stream on UFC Fight Pass.

The latest UFC 205 card includes:

• Lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez vs. featherweight champ Conor McGregor – for lightweight title
• Champ Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson – for welterweight title
• Champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz – for strawweight title
• Yoel Romero vs. Chris Weidman
• Donald Cerrone vs. Kelvin Gastelum
• Raquel Pennington vs. Miesha Tate
• Frankie Edgar vs. Jeremy Stephens
• Michael Johnson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
• Rashad Evans vs. Tim Kennedy
• Tim Boetsch vs. Rafael Natal
• Thiago Alves vs. Jim Miller
• Lyman Good vs. Belal Muhammad
• Liz Carmouche vs. Katlyn Chookagian

For more on UFC 205, check out the UFC Rumors section of the card.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show, available on SiriusXM Ch. 93, is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.