Following his defeat at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday, Conor McGregor was grateful for the opportunity to share the ring with one of boxing’s biggest stars, but he would have liked a little more time to work.
Referee Robert Byrd stepped in to wave off their bout and award Mayweather the match by 10th-round TKO in the main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. McGregor was not knocked down at any point in the match, but the finish came after a series of unanswered blows from Mayweather that left the UFC lightweight champion on the ropes.
In his post-fight interview, McGregor stopped short of protesting the stoppage, though he believed he was more tired than hurt and felt like he could continue.
“I thought it was close though and I thought it was a little early of a stoppage,” McGregor said. “I get like that when I’m tired. I get a little wobbly and flowy. But f**k, get me into the corner and I’ll recover and I’ll come back. And I’d like it to hit the floor. There’s a lot on the line here, (Byrd) should have let me keep going I thought, but fair play to (Mayweather).”
Indeed, McGregor had success taking the fight to Mayweather in the opening three rounds before his output visibly slowed as the match progressed. Even though the fight was going downhill for him, McGregor used his two meetings with Nate Diaz to explain why he thought he was still in the fight.
McGregor defeated Diaz by majority decision in a hard fought battle at UFC 202 to avenge the submission loss that Diaz handed him at UFC 196.
“I’ve been here before,” McGregor said. “I’ve been strangled on live TV and came back, so I don’t know. I would have liked him to just let it go. F**k it. I got in here in the squared circle, everything was different, it was a lot more fun.”
“That’s exactly what it is, is fatigue,” McGregor continued. “That’s why I thought the ref could have just let it keep going, let me go down. Let the man put me down. Wobbly and fatigue, that’s energy, that’s not damage. I’m clear headed.”
