CONOR MCGREGOR faced a £7.5million fine for getting disqualified in his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.
The Irish UFC star made the cross-sport step in August against the undefeated ring legend and was stopped in the tenth round of a one-sided affair.
Fight fans questioned whether the MMA hero would accept a disqualification for a headline-grabbing stunt, if he was well behind on the judges’ cards.
But the Dubliner towed the line and was beaten without challenging the Money Man, fairly or otherwise.
Speaking at a fans’ Q&A session in Glasgow, McGregor claimed referee Robert Byrd was too strict with him and revealed the financial threat for throwing a kick.
The Notorious One said: “Here's when I knew I was up against it; the ref said even if I lift my leg up it's a point deduction.
“How is that a point deduction without even a warning?
“They're telling me they're going to deduct points straight off the bat.
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“And if I do get disqualified for any reason, it was a ten million dollar fine.
"Ten million f*****g dollars.
“They were making up all these f*****g stipulations like I wasn't taking it seriously.”
McGregor employed veteran referee and hall of gamer Joe Cortez to run every sparring session in his training camp.
The distinguished official was in charge of the controversial rounds with Paulie Malignaggi and wants to see two men do it for real.
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Anthony Joshua defends his heavyweight titles against mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev on October 28 - here's our view on the fight...
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And McGregor feels that employing top officials – out of his own pocket – showed he respected boxing more than some people in the sport respected him.
He said: “I had a boxing referee in Ireland, a great boxing referee in Ireland and then Joe Cortez in Vegas, every single spar.
“I put in so much work and had given so much respect to the rule set and the discipline, I was kind of expecting it back.”
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