Have you ever watched a professional sports moment and thought to yourself, “Wow, I’m never going to forget this.” Maybe it was a bench clearing fight in or a crazy comeback, or maybe you witnessed an athlete giving a farewell speech that touched you. That’s what this column is dedicated to: highlighting iconic events in professional sports history that left its mark for whatever reason. Let’s begin.
To debut this column we’re going to take a trip down memory lane to the event that made me start watching UFC. When Conor McGregor made his boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather, which took place on Aug 26, 2017. With 4.3 million PPV buys, this event is known as the “the biggest fight in combat sports history.”
At the time, Mayweather was an undefeated, eleven-time five-division boxing world champion. McGregor was the two-division mixed martial arts world champion and UFC lightweight champion.
McGregor was going to be out of his element for the fight, but that didn’t stop him trash talking Mayweather any chance he got. It made the build up to the event all the more exciting.
McGregor started the fight strong. Was he meant to be a boxer afterall? Would Mayweather ruin his perfect record over a UFC fighter?
The answer was no, as Mayweather picked up in rounds four, five, and six. This didn’t make the fight any less interesting, though. It was hard to choose who to root for as both fighters would have an insane story if they won.
Eventually, Mayweather took the crown in the tenth round, extending his professional boxing undefeated streak to 50 victories, surpassing the 49-0 record of Hall of Famer Rocky Marciano. With the match having such a crazy buildup, exciting beginning, and satisfying end, it made this fight one to remember.
