The last Saturday of summer, one of the biggest professional fights of the year took place when Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) combatants Conor Mcgregor and Nate Diaz squared off for the second time in what was a true fight for the ages. In the end, Conor Mcgregor took home the win via majority decision, but anyone who watched the fight knows that it was as close as it gets. The fight wasn’t just monumental because of the intense and brutal nature of it, but also because of the implications it has for the future of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

“The fight was a brutal spectacle with lots of punches and kicks being thrown back and forth, and how could you forget about all the blood? Considering the first fight I watched live is now the top candidate for fight of the year, it was everything I could’ve asked for,” said senior Sam Kukol.

Currently, boxing remains the most popular fighting sport in the world, with the top boxers pulling in a payday far beyond anything any UFC fighter has made off of a fight. Lately, however, UFC has begun to gain more and more popularity. Right now, it’s on the verge of exploding into pop culture. UFC has never had such a large fan base before, and with every big fight, it grows a little larger, but the Diaz-Mcgregor bout may be the fight to change UFC forever.

Boxing bouts between two big name fighters usually get hyped up as much as possible, promoted through advertisements all across networks. The problem is, these boxing matches lately have hardly been living up to the standards that have been set for them. Mayweather-Pacquiao, which was billed as the fight of the century back in May of 2015 was one of the biggest disappointments that I can remember experiencing. UFC 202 experienced a similar buildup for the Mcgregor-Diaz fight, but the difference was that it thoroughly lived up to its hype, if not exceeded it.

If you haven’t seen any UFC fights before, it might be time to tune in. MMA fighting and UFC have been around for years, but they haven’t ever experienced the takeoff that it has deserved; now, with some of the most exciting athletes in the world on their roster, we can expect great things to come.

Now is the time to start watching UFC!