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Floyd Mayweather emerged victorious against Conor McGregor, but both sides seemed pleased with a profitable and memorable “Money Fight” at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Now retired UFC and WEC fighter Danny Downes joins MMAjunkie columnist Ben Fowlkes to discuss what it all means.

Downes: It’s finally over, Ben. McGregor did better than expected on Saturday night in Las Vegas, but Mayweather still put him away in the 10th round.

Now that it’s all said and done, what should we think of it? Is there any greater lesson to be learned from this ordeal? Perhaps we found something out about combat sports or even ourselves. Then again, maybe it was just an excuse to lay down $100 and have some adult beverages.

Fowlkes: For a fight about nothing but the sudden redistribution of wealth, I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. I was surprised not only with McGregor’s boxing acumen, but with the quality of the fight as a whole.

Remember what you said last week, Danny? Remember how all you wanted was a little entertainment? From where I was sitting, this was the most entertaining Mayweather fight in years, and not just in the dumb spectacle sense of the word, either.

In fact, if I learned anything, it’s that this can actually work. Previous crossover fights like Ali vs. Inoki and Couture vs. Toney were weird or ridiculously one-sided. This one was an actual fight. It was, in many ways, much better than we had any right to hope for.

They charged us double the usual pay-per-view price even though we only cared about one fight on the card, and somehow I did not come away feeling like I’d wasted my time and money. That right there is an accomplishment in itself.

How about you? Did you get anything out of this beyond a hangover?

Downes: My Sunday morning headaches are usually caused by your inanity and not ethyl alcohol. It does look, however, that you and I are in agreement this week.

I enjoyed the fight. Everyone watching the fight with me was entertained as well. Was it the greatest boxing match of all time? Not even close, but it was fun. In the immediate aftermath of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, the typical reaction was that it was an expensive letdown. Even though I’m not out there making that Fowlkes money, I don’t feel like I wasted my resources here.

Having said that, the fight was a lot like junk food: feels good while you’re eating it, but there’s no substance. I like Cheetos as much as the next guy (jalapeno cheddar being the best flavor), but I’ve never eaten them and felt satiated.

That’s how I feel about Mayweather vs. McGregor. It was a fun distraction and an excuse to throw a party, but it was also forgettable. Outside the big payday for the participants, there was nothing historic or memorable about it. It was an exhibition match. The fight may have been more entertaining than preseason football, but the stakes are the same, which is to say none.

Brett Okamoto at ESPN noted how the McGregor locker room did not feel like the loser’s locker room after the fight. Everyone was loose and all smiles. That fact should be telling. Not in the sense that McGregor didn’t fight to win or didn’t train hard, but he knew he was playing with house money.

It would be like you trying out for an NFL team. You don’t expect to really make the team, so getting cut won’t be a big deal. You’ll just enjoy the ride an probably steal a towel from the training room.

Mayweather vs. McGregor was an interesting, if forgettable distraction. We were so wrapped up in it that we barely noticed that Jon Jones had his title stripped away again. When New Year’s Eve rolls around, May/Mac will be in every “year in review” highlight. It was an event that dominated popular culture. Will it be in your own personal highlight reel, though? Will this be something you remember years from now, or will it be a footnote?

Fowlkes: First of all, I am definitely stealing more than just a towel if I get an NFL tryout (can I fit an MRI machine in my gym bag?). Second of all, I think you underestimate the psychological staying power of this fight, or maybe just overestimate how much people need it to be “about” anything.

This was a shared cultural experience. It was that rare time when even people who don’t watch fight sports were on Facebook and Twitter talking about watching fight sports. It’s something we lived through together, all at the same time, and social media makes that into a broad bonding experience that feels somehow personally meaningful for people. Don’t discount that.

Also, even if this had no official stakes, there was still a recognizable narrative to it. It was the great boxer against the great UFC champion. It really felt like a clash of two different worlds, and that’s always significant.

As for how we’ll remember it years from now, I’m not sure we can see the big picture yet. This fight showed us that this is possible, this kind of cross-cultural, cross-promotional mega event. It was improbable just as a concept, and yet in the end it all worked surprisingly well.

The fight game is an imitation game. When an idea proves this profitable, someone’s bound to take a stab at repeating that success. For all we know, this could be the start of a new era. And even as I type that, I’m not sure whether it’s a promise or a threat.

Ben Fowlkes is MMAjunkie and USA TODAY’s MMA columnist. Danny Downes, a retired UFC and WEC fighter, is an MMAjunkie contributor who has also written for UFC.com and UFC 360. Follow them on twitter at @benfowlkesMMA and @dannyboydownes.

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