From its opening on December 18, 1993 until the opening of the MGM co-owned T-Mobile Arena in 2016, MGM Grand Garden Arena along with the Thomas & Mack Center were the main sports arenas in the Las Vegas area.
Professional wrestling
From 1996 to 2000, it hosted World Championship Wrestling's Halloween Havoc events. The UWF television event Blackjack Brawl was held at the venue in 1994. On May 25, 2019, it hosted All Elite Wrestling's inaugural event, Double or Nothing. Tickets for the event sold out in four minutes. It was originally scheduled to host Double or Nothing on May 23, 2020 and the May 27 episode of AEW Dynamite, but was moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic. AEW will return on May 29, 2021 for Double or Nothing.
Combat sports
The arena is well known for numerous professional boxing superfights, such as Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II, Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr., Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Canelo Álvarez, Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao, and Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II. On September 7, 1996, Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson was held here; later that night, rapper Tupac Shakurwas shot in a drive-by attack. Prior to the shooting, he and his entourage were seen getting into a fight with a rival camp. He eventually succumbed to his injuries six days later. The arena held 42 Ultimate Fighting Championshipmixed martial arts events, starting with UFC 34 in 2001 and ending with The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale in 2016. UFC currently uses the T-Mobile Arena for major events. On May 2, 2015, Floyd Mayweather Jr. defended his world title in a highly anticipated match against fellow superstar Manny Pacquiao. The fight continued to the 12th round and Mayweather retained his title. Within the crowd, celebrities such as hip-hop artist Jay-Z, UFC fighter Ronda Rousey and former NBA basketball player Michael Jordan were present.
During the 1990s, the arena served as the site for the WAC women's volleyball tournament. The Professional Bull Riders held its annual World Finals event at the MGM Arena from 1994 to 1998 before moving to the Thomas & Mack Center in 1999 and then to T-Mobile Arena in 2016. On March 13, 2012, it was announced that the Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament would take place at the arena from at least 2013 through 2016 and then to T-Mobile Arena in 2017 until 2020. Beginning in 2014, the MGM Grand Garden Arena will host The MGM Resorts Main Event, an 8-team college basketball tournament held during Monday and Wednesday of Thanksgiving week of NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The MGM Grand Main Event features two four-team brackets, with each team playing two games in Las Vegas. Opening round games are played on campus.
The MGM Grand Garden Arena is the current home of the Latin Grammy Awards, having hosted it five times. The arena hosted the Latin Grammy Awards in 2014, 2015, and from 2017 to 2019.
Improvisational jam band Phish has hosted several significant halloween concerts at the venue. On October 31, 2014, they performed Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House with original instrumental music to accompany the album as their "musical costume" for the second set of their Halloween night show at the venue. Following that performance, the band has made their interpretation of "Martian Monster" a regular part of their concert repertoire and have performed it at over 25 subsequent concerts. On October 31, 2016, the band covered David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars in its entirety as their musical costume for the evening. On October 31, 2018, the band performed a set of all-new original material that they promoted as a "cover" of í rokk by Kasvot Växt, a fictional 1980s Scandinavian progressive rock band they had created.
