If Conor McGregor was going to lose to Floyd Mayweather, he wanted to go down on his terms - not that they would have been any terms he wanted to accept as he faced the American in the ring on Sunday.
McGregor's plea went unanswered as referee Robert Byrd stepped in to stop the fight in the 10th round and Mayweather won by TKO. The Irishman was exhausted and on wobbly legs, but wanted the opportunity to stick it out until the end of the 12th.
Anyone who watched the fight knew he was never going to make it that far. He was cooked, admitting afterwards fatigue set in despite working his "ass off" to prepare physically for the fight.
McGregor's newest nemesis Paulie Malignaggi - the two-time boxing champion who quit as a sparring partner after blowing up when a photo of the pair's training session was released online - has a different take on the UFC star's downfall.
Obviously McGregor struggled in the dying stages, too gassed to throw any meaningful punches as he constantly looked to drag Mayweather into the clinch.
Malignaggi accused "The Notorious" of not throwing enough punches not because he was tired, but because he "quit" and wanted referee Byrd to end the fight.
"If you get tired you don't quit, I'm sorry," Malignaggi told MMAFighting.com.
"In MMA you can put yourself in a position to be submitted, not fight off the submission then you can tap out. There's a way to cop out in MMA, there's no way to cop out in boxing.
"You did not throw a punch for a minute straight while you were being assaulted.
"The bottom line is he didn't want to go out on his back, he wanted Byrd to save him.
Because if you don't want Byrd to save you, you'll show some signs of life, you'll throw a punch. You'll say, 'Yeah I'm hurting but I want to remain in this fight, I don't want to be pulled out of this fight.'
"He did none of that, he threw no punches, he was waiting for Byrd to stop the fight. He can say anything he wants, but he can't edit this video."
McGregor was cooked. Photo / AP
The energy drained from McGregor's body as the rounds wore on, but Malignaggi believes the southpaw lied about wanting to be given the chance to go the full 12 rounds.
"He just looked for a way out of the fight," Malignaggi told Luke Thomas on SiriusXM radio.
"Afterwards when you've got a little energy and a little oxygen (back) and you're talking in the post-fight interview and saying they should have let you finish on your back ... all you have to do is throw a punch or two. If you just throw a single punch or two in the last minute of the fight the referee's not going to stop the fight.
"He didn't want to fight. The thing about boxing is you can't lie - the truth comes out. In the ring you're exposed for everything you are and everything you're not."
It's wise to take Malignaggi's "quitting" accusations with at least a couple of spoonfuls of salt rather than just the proverbial grain.
Bitter about the release of the photo that showed him on the ground during sparring, the 36-year-old year old went on a media blitz claiming he'd been set up by Team McGregor and in fact only slipped. So he has reason to speak ill of the UFC's biggest drawcard.
Malignaggi raged at McGregor and his camp again in an ugly confrontation at the official entrances into Las Vegas on Wednesday, saying McGregor had "no balls", and repeated the claim again on Tuesday when he accused the Irishman of looking for an easy way out.
"He does gas out and when he does gas out he doesn't know what to do and doesn't come up with a concept of figuring it out. Once this guy gasses out ... once he's in a bad situation or a negative situation, whether it's in an MMA fight or a boxing fight, the guy punks out. He looks for a way out of a fight," Malignaggi told Thomas.
"He stopped throwing punches, he stopped fighting. Once he doesn't want to be there he stops fighting. For all the loudness and all the bluster he literally stops fighting.
"Fatigue comes into play for everybody ... at that point it becomes mental. The guy has no balls.
"When you back him into a corner he's a little pussycat.
"He quit. If you don't throw a punch for over a minute, you quit buddy. You can explain it any way you want ... you quit buddy, you absolutely did."
If anyone wants McGregor to step inside the ring again it would be Malignaggi. His profile has grown tenfold since he started to wage war in the feud against Team McGregor, and any fight between the pair would net him a sizeable windfall.
While he was coy on whether he'd pursue any such match-up, Malignaggi did say he'd relish the chance to hurt McGregor.
"I don't like the guy, I never will like the guy, personally I think he's a scumbag," Malignaggi said.
"Just the fact I could sink my fist into his face - I would love that. The fact I could get him looking like the sissy that he is - I would love that."
