UFC makes its Return to Boston Headlined by Aljo vs. O'Malley on August 19th

The sports biggest promotion will making its long-awaited return to Boston on August 19th and will be headlined by the current bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling defending his belt against the brash "Suga" Sean O'Malley. There has been rumors swirling for months that the UFC would be making another trip back to Boston this summer, and now it is all but official as Dana White made mention of the matchup for that date, but did not name a location.

This will be the 7th time that the UFC takes its show into Boston and it will be the 3rd time a pay-per-view will be taking place at the TD Garden.

Dana White has deep ties to the city of Boston, but the UFC's visits to Boston haven't come without controversy. Most recently during the UFC on ESPN: Reyes vs. Weidman card, there was an uproar during and after the Greg Hardy vs. Ben Sosoli heavyweight matchup. Hardy used an inhaler in between rounds during the fight as one of the Mass State Athletic Commission deputies looked on and did nothing to stop it. This created some serious drama and the fight was eventually overturned to a No Contest. White was very vocal after the event in Boston and placed much of the blame on "Inhalergate" on the commission's shoulders.

Greg Hardy takes a rip off his inhaler between rounds.

It's safe to assume that you'll see some of New England's top talent in the UFC Octagon on August 19th. Calvin Kattar, Rob Font, Don Shainis, Charles Rosa, and Parker Porter are more than likely to be making the walk that night, but there also could be a few other local names that currently aren't signed to the promotion who may get the biggest shots of their careers. Regardless of who will be competing that night, the energy is sure to be electric in TD Garden since the promotion hasn't hosted an event in the state in 3.5 years.

Below is a list of previous visits that the UFC has made to Boston since the sport was regulated by the state athletic commission starting in 2010.

- UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2 (8/28/10)

- UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen (8/17/13)

- UFC Fight Night 59: McGregor vs. Siver (1/18/15)

- UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Cruz (1/17/16)

- UFC 220: Miocic vs. Ngannou (1/20/18)

- UFC on ESPN: Reyes vs. Weidman (10/18/19)