UFC 268: Home is where the wins are for New Yorker Shane Burgos

For most fighters at UFC 268, the chance to fight at Madison Square Garden is something to savor, an experience that represents their arrival at the sport’s highest level.

For Shane Burgos, it’s simply an easier commute.

"It’s convenient," said Burgos. "So yeah, I [expletive] love it."

The Bronx-born Burgos (13-3, 6-3 UFC), who fights out of Monroe, New York, is more than familiar with fighting near home. He'll make his third MSG appearance and compete for the sixth time in New York State when he fights fellow featherweight Billy Quarantillo (16-3, 4-1 UFC) on Saturday. Since joining the UFC, Burgos is 5-0 in New York and 1-3 elsewhere.

"It's so nice," Burgos said of fight week at home. "Hour drive. You can't beat it. My wife and my kids are going to be able to come to the weigh-in show so I'm excited for that. I have so much friends, so much family here."

Burgos, 30, has benefited from his UFC arrival coinciding with the legalization of mixed martial arts in New York. He wasn’t part of the first card in the state, the star-packed UFC 205 at the Garden in November 2016. But his promotional debut came in the second New York event a month later in Albany, followed by visits to Buffalo and Nassau Coliseum. Burgos finally made his MSG debut in November 2018, beating Kurt Holobaugh via submission at UFC 230, then returned a year later to TKO Makwan Amirkhani at UFC 244. He’s 0-2 since the pandemic kept fights from being held in New York, losing in Las Vegas and Houston.

"Driving here yesterday felt like I was driving to another day of training," Burgos said. "It was weird. I haven't had that in about two years."

Quarantillo, meanwhile, is very much ready for all that comes with his first MSG experience. He fought just once for the promotion before the COVID-19 pandemic, and his four fights since all have been held at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, closed to all but a handful of spectators.

"I’m sure the environment’s going to be a little different," Quarantillo said. "Having a couple hundred people at the Apex to sold-out Madison Square Garden, it’s definitely going to be super nerves and emotions, and I just can’t wait for it."

While Burgos has the quick commute, Quarantillo won’t necessarily be fighting on the road. He trains out of Tampa, but hails from Ransomville in Western New York, and the 32-year-old has his own contingent making the trip downstate.

"Most of my really close friends who I grew up with in Ransomville, Lewiston, Buffalo are coming out," Quarantillo said. "I actually had a lot of people who were like, 'Oh man, I want to come but tickets are so expensive,' or they didn't want to get the vaccine or whatever the case may be. We do have a bunch of people here, but I also have a ton of people obviously watching it on pay per view from home."