On August 26, the world stopped to watch the most lucrative fight in combat sport history in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The bout featured the polarizing figure Floyd Mayweather and Mixed Martial Arts superstar Conor McGregor.

This fight was more than just a one night spectacle; the trash talk and build up for the fight has been going on since the summer of 2015. Before Conor McGregor had even won his first world title in the UFC, on an episode of Conan O’Brien, McGregor said he would “dismantle” Mayweather if he stepped in the ring with him. The fight was rumored to be in the works since early 2016, but it wasn’t until June 14, 2017, that the fight was officially announced.

The major debate about the fight was whether it would even be competitive or not; Conor McGregor undoubtably would win if it came down to pure unarmed combat or if it was in a mixed martial arts event. However, in boxing Mayweather at the time was 49-0 with 26 KO’s. McGregor was 21-3 in MMA and had never fought a professional boxing bout in his life. Many highly respected boxing pundits, such as Teddy Atlas and Max Kellerman, even suggested that McGregor wouldn’t even land a single punch on Mayweather.

Another scenario that puzzled people was the question of if McGregor would respect the boxing rules. If McGregor were to throw a kick at Mayweather’s head, he would have no way to defend it, or if he decided to throw an elbow or knee in the direction of Mayweather, it would most likely be a fight ending shot that would leave Mayweather unconscious.

The announcement of the fight drew the attention of millions of people around the world, which led to them doing a world tour where they went to four cities: Los Angeles, Toronto, New York, and London. However, in every single city there was one common theme: McGregor was the fan favorite. The brash Irishman is known for his cleverness and entertaining press conferences, whereas Mayweather doesn’t have the same level of wit and cunningness to battle with Conor on the microphone. McGregor took several hard shots at Mayweather during this press tour, such as when he suggested Floyd Mayweather couldn’t read, calling him out in his issues with the IRS, taking digs at his size and stature, and saying if it was a real fight he could have him “dead” in 30 seconds. Mayweather didn’t compete much on the mic; he had the same defense every press conference, simply saying he has made more money.

The fight itself however was setup to be a mismatch, with McGregor stepping in his first professional boxing fight against arguably the greatest boxer of all time. The fight started with McGregor implementing his unorthodox style early. He had a Karate based stance like the one he uses in MMA, where he is heavy on his lead leg bouncing in and out of range, never telegraphing when he is going to throw a punch, allowing him to effectively fight at range. McGregor came with a very heavy pace early, and this caused him to comfortably win the early rounds over Mayweather.

This pace, however, is very hard if not impossible to keep up for an entire 12 round fight. After the end of the 7th round, it was clear McGregor had expended too much energy too early.

Round 9 was a lopsided affair in favor of Mayweather. McGregor was wobbly; his legs were giving out on him on every shot of Mayweather’s that landed.

In the 10th round, the referee decided the fight was no longer competitive and he called the fight as a TKO with McGregor still standing, a stoppage that is left with much controversy. Sophomore Ty Barker believed “McGregor was still in the fight, I would have liked to see it go on a little longer.” McGregor himself in the post fight interview said, “The shots weren’t powerful. I get a little wobbly when I’m tired.”

Early stoppage or not, after the fight, Mayweather was 50-0 and had set the record for most victories in boxing without a draw or a loss, a record that will be very hard to break.

McGregor was given mass amounts of praise after the fight was over. He was praised for lasting 10 rounds with possibly the greatest boxer ever in his first professional boxing bout as well as landing more punches than the majority of Mayweather’s opponents (111 punches) including Manny Pacquiao (81).

What this fight means for the UFC is only positive. McGregor proved that the striking level of MMA fighters is very high quality and with many more ways to win, makes for more interesting fights given the different style matchups such as a wrestler vs a boxer, or a kickboxer vs a Jiu Jitsu black belt.

Whereas in boxing you are left with exactly what you had before. With the lack of stars in boxing, it is likely we won’t see an event like Mayweather vs McGregor for a long time.