Mike Tyson Says He Respects Conor McGregor More After Floyd Mayweather Fight

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson said he gained respect UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor after watching his fight Saturday night against Floyd Mayweather Jr. 

On Wednesday, TMZ Sports passed along comments from Tyson about his view of McGregor after pushing Mayweather into the 10th round before suffering a knockout loss. 

"Yeah, I respect him [more after the fight]," Tyson said.

He told the Pardon My Take podcast prior to the bout the MMA superstar was going to get "killed" in the boxing ring. 

Although the 29-year-old Irishman nearly managed to push the fight the distance, his American counterpart never appeared in imminent danger. The undefeated five-division world champion controlled the pace after the opening few rounds to comfortably move his career record to 50-0.

Nevertheless, the response directed toward McGregor has been mostly positive for hanging on against one of the best boxers in history for as long as he did in his first career boxing match. He visibly started to lose steam late, however, which allowed Mayweather to finish with a flurry in Round 10.

Martin Domin of the Daily Mirror provided the 40-year-old Michigan native's thoughts on the bout after stretching his win streak to 50.

"He was solid, but I've been off for a couple of years and I'm older now. I still have a hell of an IQ and I'm still a thinker. His punching power is solid but I've felt it before so I kept coming forward. It wasn't the kind of power that stopped me coming forward," Mayweather said. "I told you guys I'd come straight ahead. I could have sat back and counter-punched. My plan was to let him shoot heavy shots and take him down the stretch. I wanted to let him shoot heavy shots from the beginning."

Mayweather also said after the fight he was entering retirement for the third time.

Meanwhile, UFC president Dana White told reporters he prefers McGregor return to the Octagon following the hyped cross-sport battle. If the lightweight champ does go that direction, he'll return to MMA having earned the respect of many, including Iron Mike.