Conor McGregor has vowed to show off his shoulder strikes in his UFC return whilst likening them to "cannonballs".
McGregor is in the last stages of recovering from a broken tibia he sustained last July in his trilogy fight against Dustin Poirier. The UFC star will undergo a CT scan on his compromised leg and expects he should now be able to use it comfortably in training.
The former two-weight champion is without a win since stopping Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds at UFC 246. In that fight, McGregor hurt Cerrone just seconds into the bout with several shoulder strikes before finishing him with a head kick and punches.
Shoulder strikes have been utilised by few fighters in MMA, but McGregor reminded fight fans just how devastating they can be against Cerrone. Replying to a picture of a fan who criticised McGregor for not training ahead of his comeback fight, McGregor boasted about his "cannonball shoulders".
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"Absolute Cannon ball shoulders, step in the pocket and find out. Any one of them. Any weight. Any where," he wrote. McGregor has put on a lot of muscle since being limited to weight training after breaking his leg, even claiming he bulked up to 190lb.
McGregor has insisted he will return at welterweight as he doesn't want a hefty cut to 155lb after packing on more muscle. He has been called out by several fighters ahead of his return, with Jorge Masvidal being the latest fighter to try and lure him into a fight.
Speaking on The MMA Hour, Masvidal explained why he doesn't think McGregor will accept a fight with him. "He wants to stay relevant so he takes shots, but he’s not going to fight," he said. "The UFC has offered him this fight, as you and me both know this could be the biggest fight in UFC history.
"Why would he not want to cash in on that paycheck? Because he knows I’m going to beat the f*** out of him I’m not a wrestler so if I beat him it really looks bad for his brand because I’m only going to beat him one way, f****** in his face, standing up, punching him, knocking his ass out.
"It’s not going to be good for the Conor brand or his cheap a** whiskey. So that little b**** has to do what he has to do and take to Twitter and talk s***."
