Dana White Says He Is 'So Proud Of' Conor McGregor After Floyd Mayweather Fight

Dana White, president of the UFC, told reporters he's "so proud" of Conor McGregor after the 29-year-old Irish star of the Octagon lasted 10 rounds against Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday. 

White's comments were relayed on the official UFC Twitter account after McGregor lost by technical knockout on his professional boxing debut when the bout was stopped in the 10th:

White continued his praise of McGregor, calling him "rare" and "special," per MMAFighting.com:

McGregor proved himself worthy of such respect by the way he carried the fight to Mayweather in the early rounds. It was a commendable show of bravado and skill from a man making his professional boxing debut against one of the sport's all-time greats.

White applauded McGregor's efforts, citing the way the Irishman landed a century of punches on a fighter traditionally difficult to hit, per UFC Europe:

To be specific about how efficiently McGregor hit, Brian Campbell of CBS Sports cited these impressive statistics from CompuBox:

Ultimately, McGregor didn't have the stamina to take Mayweather the distance, but he did do the world of UFC justice with a brave showing, as well as one featuring more technical comfort between the ropes than many would have expected.

In the process, McGregor made a good fight out of what could have been a merely a circus. Many in the boxing world, including former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, dismissed this bout as a sideshow, but McGregor's performance proved them wrong.

His effort will have raised the profile of UFC fighters, and specifically their ability to transfer skills common in the Octagon to other fight disciplines.