Who beat UFC superstar Conor McGregor in boxing?
Conor McGregor was defeated by Floyd Mayweather in the lone professional boxing bout of his career. McGregor took on the former five-division champion on August 26, 2017, in a twelve-round light middleweight boxing bout inside the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas.
Apart from selling the second-highest pay-per-views in the history of combat sports, the bout also earned the moniker of "The Money Fight."
While they had an approximate 4 lbs weight difference at the weigh-ins, Conor McGregor was nearly 20 lbs heavier than Floyd Mayweather on fight night. Mayweather was expected to dominate the fight since commencement, but Conor McGregor surprised fans by coming out strong.
With the veteran boxer sticking to the rope-a-dope technique in the early stages of the fight, McGregor was even ahead on one of the judges' scorecards. However, Conor McGregor started to show signs of fatigue as the fight progressed and Mayweather launched his attack.
After that, Floyd Mayweather made quick work of McGregor and a knockout seemed imminent. 'Money' smelled blood going into the tenth round and landed a flurry of punches before the former two-division UFC champion was saved by the referee.
Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor were guaranteed paychecks of $100 million and $30 million respectively for the event. However, the fight purse for both was expected to be substantially higher with Mayweather reportedly earning nearly $300 million from the fight and McGregor earning around $100 million.
Has anyone gotten the better of Conor McGregor in striking in MMA?
While Conor McGregor may have lost his lone professional boxing bout, it certainly does not take away from his credibility as an elite striker. Out of his 22 professional wins, 19 have come by the way of knockout. Correspondingly, out of the five losses in the Irishman's career, four have come by way of submission.
The only time Conor McGregor fell to strikes inside the octagon was in his last outing against Dustin Poirier in the main event at UFC 257. Albeit with vicious calf kicks, it would appear that Dustin Poirier is the only MMA fighter to have gotten the better of Conor McGregor in strikes.
The Irishman will look to re-assert himself as a knockout artist when he faces Dustin Poirier for a third time at UFC 264.