Fans have heaped praise on Conor McGregor's "insane" difference after the UFC legend shared photos from three different weight classes on Instagram.
The Irishman took to social media to share a picture showing him flexing at weigh-ins for his fights with Jose Aldo and Floyd Mayweather alongside a current photo. McGregor is said to weigh around 190lb as he pushes towards a welterweight return in the UFC, as much as 45lb heavier than he was in his picture from the 2015 bout with Aldo.
He captioned the post "climb the ladder", and received a mixed reaction from fans. A large proportion of his supporters were complimentary, noting that he was looking good and strong in the recent picture, as opposed to gaunt in the 2015 snap. But some also brought up that his record was best at 145lb, including his iconic win at UFC 194.
"Yes sirrrr looking strong brother," said one fan, while one commenter added: "That’s actually insane the way he was able to dominate different weight classes like that."
McGregor became world champion at featherweight and lightweight in Cage Warriors, before getting signed to the UFC and emulating that feat within less than four years. To become featherweight champion in the main MMA promotion, he had to dethrone legendary champion Aldo, which he did within just 13 seconds.
Then, after a brief detour up to welterweight where he faced Nate Diaz twice in a pair of grudge matches, McGregor put away Eddie Alvarez to become lightweight champion in November of 2016. He was the first fighter in history to simultaneously hold belts in two weight classes, winning both belts within 11 months of one another.
But since that win over Alvarez, he has struggled to remain consistent in the sport, and has sported a 1-3 record following the iconic win. He moved to boxing to face Mayweather in the second-biggest boxing match of all time, before returning to face Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight belt, losing a fourth round submission after a bitter feud.
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He was forced out of action with injury for 2019, before briefly returning with a sub-one-minute win over Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone in January. But he ended up out for a year again due to coronavirus restrictions just weeks after his win over the American, losing both of his return fights last year to Dustin Poirier, the second coming after a gruesome broken leg.
McGregor is now eyeing up a return to the octagon, sparring for the first time since his horror leg break last week. He has vowed to make further history by relieving welterweight champion Kamaru Usman of his belt, although that task would prove incredibly difficult given the Nigerian's incredible winning run.
Usman hasn't lost in the UFC as yet, and has beaten a number of top contenders in his division on more than one occasion. He is currently preparing for a defence against Leon Edwards later this year, but has not rubbished a potential fight with McGregor after his next defence.
