UFC 217 will go down as one of the best fight cards of all time as the promotion's second-ever show at New York's Madison Square Garden saw three new champions crowned.

MMA legend and former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre returned after a four-year hiatus to defeat middleweight champion Michael Bisping via a rare naked choke in the third round on Saturday (4 November).

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In turn, "GSP" further cemented his legacy as one of the best fighters of all time, becoming just the fourth fighter to win a belt in two different divisions.

"I don't have a word in my mouth right now," St-Pierre said after his win. "It's a dream come true, guys. Thank you for the support, it's my dream come true."

The co-main event saw heated rivals TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt finally lock horns in a fight that was over a year in the making.

Dillashaw was able to come back from a first-round knockdown to finish "No Love" in the second round via TKO to become a two-time bantamweight champion in what was an enthralling contest between the former teammates.

A new women's strawweight champion was also crowned as Rose Namajunas shocked the world by finishing the previously undefeated 115-pound queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk who tapped out to strikes after being knocked down twice.

The company was under serious pressure to deliver in this card as pay-per-view buys have not been kind to them in 2017 with just one event doing better than 300,000 buys.

And UFC president Dana White, who had predicted 1m buys for the New York show, claimed after the fights that it did much better than expected.

"We're pretty sure this beat Mayweather vs McGregor in Canada," White revealed at the post-fight press conference.

"I told some of you guys yesterday that this would do a million. I was way wrong. It did a lot more than a million. I'll have a definite answer tomorrow, but it's looking like we destroyed it."