The wait was more than worth it.

After years of campaigning to get mixed martial arts sanctioned in New York, making the fruitless drive to Albany every year, Frankie Edgar finally got to fight in his backyard, and the veteran featherweight gave his home fans a show, showcasing all the skills that has made him such a popular fighter.

Displaying his trademark toughness, unpredictability and skill on the ground, the Toms River, N.J., native earned a unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28, over Jeremy Stephens in the final match of the UFC 205 prelims at the Garden, thrilling the partisan crowd.

Edgar (21-5-1 MMA, 15-5-1 UFC), serenaded with chants of “Let’s go Frankie!” and “Fran-kie Ed-gar!” throughout the three-round fight, controlled the match. He repeatedly took Stephens, the bigger and stronger fighter, down to the canvas and responded to big shots by the striker with many of his own, shaking off punches that would have stunned others.

He absorbed a high kick flush to the face in the second round that sent him down, only for him to respond with a takedown. Later in the round, Edgar — who never has been knocked out or submitted — nearly ended the fight, locking in a guillotine — a martial arts choke move — as the crowd roared with more pro-Edgar chants. Stephens managed to roll out of it while Edgar landed elbows while on top of him, forcing a third round.

“He rang my bell a little bit, but it wouldn’t be a Frankie fight without that,” Edgar said in the in-ring interview.

Edgar dominated the final round despite Stephens connecting on a few punches, nearly submitting Stephens (25-13 MMA, 12-12 UFC) on multiple occasions and keeping him on the ground, where he thrives, before settling for the decision.

It was an important bounce-back for Edgar, who was coming off losing to Jose Aldo in July in UFC 200, dropping an interim title bout in a unanimous decision. Had he won that fight, he may have been in the main event of UFC 205 against featherweight champion Conor McGregor. The 35-year-old Edgar has said he never will get over that defeat and that only a victory would help him at least move on.

After waiting so long to fight at home, Edgar wants to do it all over again. Edgar said he hopes to fight in the next local card, expected to be UFC 209 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn in February.

“Let’s go Brooklyn. Dana, where you at?” he said, referring to UFC president Dana White.