People are missing the point about the premature stoppage. McGregor was going to lose, it was clear he was too fatigued at that point to knock Floyd out. The point is: McGregor could have (and WOULD have) gone the distance, and that would have been perceived as a win for Conor and MMA. It would have been an embarrassment. I have never in my life seen a more ridiculous stoppage. Those of us who had been looking forward to this fight for months and paid money deserved to see someone hit the floor.
The idea that the ref was "saving" McGregor from some kind of catastrophic damage is hilarious. Sure he was tired, but he was NOT hurt. He was still present. He wasn't even close to being defenseless or getting knocked out.