It’s now a couple of weeks in the past but one of the enduring sentiments from the massive spectacle that was Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Conor McGregor is the unexpected success McGregor had early while competing against an all-time great boxer. McGregor won several of the early rounds (in the eyes of most fans if not on the scorecards) and in so doing, impressed boxing aficionados and former foes alike. He also landed more punches against Mayweather than some of the biggest names the boxing champion has faced, including Manny Pacquiao, Shane Mosley, and Miguel Cotto.

That alone is a truly impressive feat but according to Mayweather, McGregor shouldn’t let that stat get to his head though. On recently released footage from FightHype.com, the undefeated boxer says that McGregor’s success had everything to do with giving the fans a show and wasn’t a result of anything McGregor was doing.

“That's because I wasn't counter-punching and boxing,” said Mayweather when asked about McGregor outlanding Pacquiao, Cotto, and Mosley. “The reason why he probably landed a higher percentage or landed more shots than those guys was because I was coming straight ahead, I was barely moving, knocking his shots down a little bit and just breaking him down. That was the game plan, let him shoot everything. I know he was gonna shoot shots from awkward positions but the game plan was to dig into the body with good shots, hit him with left hooks, hit him with straight right hands and keep walking towards him, keep pressing him and pushing him back.

“I could have just stayed on the outside, out-boxed him and counter-punched him, and probably still stop him down the stretch but that’s not what I wanted to do. I wanted to press and push him.”

The strategy to pressure McGregor ended up working to perfection. After McGregor’s early success, Mayweather took over around the fourth round and began coming after McGregor much more often, eventually getting a stoppage in the tenth round after seriously hurting McGregor, though McGregor never left his feet. Even McGregor’s own striking coach Owen Roddy admitted that Mayweather’s strategy of walking him down was something they were not prepared for and ended up costing them the fight.

And that’s what Mayweather has done his entire career, play the long game. McGregor’s early success made the fight compelling in a way many of Mayweather’s boxing bouts have not been and allowed him to end his Hall of Fame career by washing the bad taste of the Andre Berto bout with one of the more exciting fights of his career and his first non-controversial stoppage in a decade.

“My thing is this, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. He can come out fast hands, use his range, using different angles, and after the first four or five rounds, he wasn’t the same fighter anymore. . .

"I told you guys I was going to go straight ahead and I know going straight ahead I was gonna take some contact, I was gonna get hit with some shots, but I wanted to give the fans and everybody around the world an exciting fight and I feel that’s what we did.”

---

MUST-READ STORIES

Results. UFC 215 took place on Saturday evening and here are the results.

Judges. Valentina Shevchenko believes she beat Amanda Nunes at UFC 215.

Cowboy. Donald Cerrone says his teammate Ray Borg should have fought at UFC 215.

The One. Henry Cejudo believes he is the one to beat Demetrious Johnson.

Lawsuit. Conor McGregor is being sued of his UFC 202 bottle-throwing incident.

---

VIDEO STEW

Post-fight presser.

Post-fight show.

Free fight.

Bellator free fight action.

Get this man on Food Network.

Nunes wishing Ronda well on her marriage.

Bisping-GSP promo to start whetting the appetite.

LFA 22 highlights.

---

LISTEN UP

6th Round. Immediate reaction to UFC 215 and Nunes close title defense.

Beatdown After the Bell. Recapping UFC 215 and the judge’s decision.

Severe MMA. UFC 215, Branch v. Rockhold, and BAMMA are discussed.

---

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Ray Borg responding to hate over not fighting at UFC 215.

Cyborg has never watched any of Floyd Mayweather’s other 49 fights it seems.

Holy s**t.

Beef.

Statement from Perfecting Athletes about parting ways with Borg.

Conor is really enjoying his vacation.

Jon Jones’ latest.

Mauro back on the mic for Bellator soon.

Bisping trying to pull of Shevchenko’s dance.

This man was absurdly violent from the very start.

---

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

N/A.

---

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m really interested in the result of today’s poll because the main event this weekend was really close and there has already been a lot of discussion about who won and why. It appears the swing round is round 3, but there are a few people, myself included, who gave Shevchenko round 5 because Nunes did nothing other than two takedowns and back control. All just kinda depends on what you favor so let’s see where the majority lies.

And we’re back to another fight week with the return of Luke Rockhold in an interesting MW matchup. More importantly, the best boxing match of the last several years is Saturday with Canelo finally fighting GGG. Needless to say, this weekend rules.

Enjoy your Monday everyone and Conor bless.

---

EXIT POLL

---

If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, just hit me up on Twitter @JedKMeshew and let me know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram, add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting, and like us on Facebook.