Conor McGregor gave Floyd Mayweather everything he had in their highly anticipated superfight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, all he had wasn’t quite good enough to take out the undefeated Mayweather as he lost via 10th-round TKO after referee Robert Byrd called a halt to the fight when the pound-for-pound great poured on the punches.

Nevertheless, it was a surprising showing from the UFC lightweight champion, who landed 111 punches and never backed down. However, McGregor’s conditioning would fail him late in the fight and ended up being the primary reason for the Irishman being stopped. Although the referee did the right thing by stepping in to stop the fight, McGregor would have preferred to go out on his shield.

“When you’re in here in the squared circle, everything is different. Let the man put me down, that’s fatigue, that’s not damage,” McGregor said. Clearly, he expected that the end should come with a definitive finish.

“Where was the final two rounds? Let me walk back to my corner and compose myself!”

It was a valiant showing from McGregor, who promised an early knockout of the smaller Mayweather. But Mayweather’s seasoning as a boxer allowed him to weather McGregor’s early onslaught, wait for McGregor to tire and pounce on his fatigued opponent. Everything went as planned as Mayweather began pouring on the offense in the later rounds and walking the bigger man down.

When the barrage of punches with pinpoint accuracy from Mayweather came in the tenth, McGregor staggered but never went down. But unlike the UFC, where he may have been given more leeway, McGregor figured he could have continued and didn’t deserve to be stopped without being put down.

“I don’t know. I’ve been here before. I’ve been strangled on live TV and came back, so I really wish he had let it go,” he said. “I thought it was close. I get a little wobbly when I’m fatigued, similar to the second [Nate] Diaz fight. That’s exactly what it was – fatigue. That’s why I thought the ref could have let it go a little longer.”

Where McGregor goes from here is anyone’s guess. But his stock has certainly shot up after an impressive showing in his first professional boxing match.

More Mayweather-McGregor coverage from Yahoo Sports:
• Mayweather picks up big TKO win over McGregor
• Sports world reacts to Mayweather’s 50th career win
• Why was Floyd Mayweather wearing a ski mask?