Holly Holm says referee stopped May-Mac fight too early: He wasn’t ‘out on his feet’

Holly Holm believes the referee should have allowed Conor McGregor to continue in the 10th round against Mayweather.

There’s been some debate as to whether veteran referee Robert Byrd stopped the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight too early.

Many fans believe it was a just stoppage, as McGregor, who made his pro boxing debut, was taking unanswered punches and looked to have lost his legs from underneath him. The Irishman didn’t go down, but he took some serious punishment against the ropes.

Byrd stopped the fight at 1:05 of the 10th round, but former women’s boxing and UFC champion Holly Holm believes McGregor should have been allowed to continue.

“You don’t see McGregor arguing it was stopped, but I thought though the ref jumped in a little early, yeah,” Holm said on a recent edition of The MMA Hour, per MMA Fighting’s Dave Doyle. “It’s not like he was out on his feet or about to get knocked out, or something like that. He wasn’t going in there to counter or anything. It was definitely an early stoppage for sure.”

McGregor seemed surprisingly lucid in the post-fight interview and told reporters that he was overcome by fatigue in the later rounds, but ‘The Notorious’ didn’t hesitate to give Mayweather credit for a phenomenal performance, acknowledging ‘Money’s’ unerring composure in the boxing ring.

Holm, the former UFC women’s bantamweight champ, loved the fight overall and credited both men for putting everything on the line.

“How can you not respect it?” Holm said. They both put everything on the line. McGregor walked in and said ‘I believe I can do this going against a boxer, a fighter that’s never been beat.’ He’s got the record now. That’s a big thing to take on.... For Mayweather, anything can happen in a fight, one punch can end it, he’s putting a lot on the line. 50-0 or to lose to an MMA fighter who never boxed before. That’s a lot to put on the line.”

Mayweather vs. McGregor was a historic night for combat sports and the blockbuster fight is rumored to have secured a whopping 6.5 million PPV buys, according to UFC president Dana White.

McGregor is expected to return to the Octagon to defend his lightweight title.