Funny thing about the UFC is that everything around it is really embarrassing- the constant OTT hyping of every mediocre fight, the testosterone-fuelled, borderline homoerotic fanboyism, the wannabe WWE stunts, the shamelessly contrived and unfair matchup process- but the product itself is incredible. That was a ridiculous fight. Boxing hasn't had a fight live up to the hype like that since Ali retired and in the UFC it's fairly common.
I mean they're doing it right, it's an incredibly successful organisation. But personally I'd like it so much more if they all just got out of the way.
The Diaz McCregor fight was awesome, yes. I'm not sure about the absolute quality of most of the fighters anymore though. I don't think any of these guys are anywhere near the best fighters in the world. I think most of these guys are above average bar fighters who've trained to be fit enough to last a few rounds. They're mainly picked on marketability. Hence why we're seeing CM Punk fighting in the next UFC. WTF. Previously we had guys who had been world dominant amateur greco-roman wrestlers, kickboxers, and boxers. I don't think we're getting so much of that now.
McCregor himself was only signed because Dana happened to be in Dublin one time, pretty much to get the European views on PPV. And he's gone on to dominate - when he wasn't really a dominant fighter before he was in the UFC.
The fact that it's one organisation means that these guys don't have to fight any other fighters from around the world that could call them out. True, they can't really dodge guys within UFC, but they never fight anyone else. It's good to see that generally the best fighters within the UFC fight each other, but it's not really saying much when the quality overall is questionable.
So while boxing has big issues with dodging fighters, at least you can call out a guy and unify belts to become a bit more legitimate.
Also, There have been plenty of huge fights since Ali. Dunno what you've been watching. So many awesome boxers.
Upcoming we have Ward vs Kovalev. Terence Crawford vs Manny Pacquiao. Anthony Joshua vs Joseph Parker.