Frankie Edgar has always dreamed of fighting at Madison Square Garden. And on Saturday night at UFC 205, the fighting pride of Toms River, New Jersey made his dream come true in a very big way.

Fresh off his loss to Jose Aldo at UFC 200 back in July, the former lightweight champion turned featherweight contender was determined to get back into the win column. Standing between him and that goal was hard-hitting veteran Jeremy Stephens, who was guaranteed to provide a stern test for Edgar. Sure enough, the fight was exactly as projected.

The two scrappy veterans engaged in a full-throttled scrap that used up every second of the 15-minute affair. Edgar used his movement and wrestling to keep Stephens at bay throughout the opening round, and appeared to be doing more of the same until a Stephens head kick dropped him to the mat midway through the second frame.

Stephens swarmed to capitalize, but the battle-savvy Edgar used angles to make space and recovery time.And that's where the signature Edgar came to life.Although he was badly hurt, the 35-year-old former titleholder turned the tides with a perfectly timed takedown. Edgar put Stephens on his back and finished the round dropping bombs from the full mount.

The final round saw Edgar return to his original game plan as me mixed in strikes and takedowns with efficiency. The final result was a unanimous decision victory that will return Edgar to the heated title race that has been raging through the featherweight division for the past two years. And that's exactly where Edgar wants to be.