Conor McGregor's coach John Kavanagh has explained how his charge's emphasis on weight training has led to his 190lb frame.
The Irish star is currently continuing his recovery from a broken leg he suffered in defeat to Dustin Poirier last July and has made a return to boxing training.
He has claimed that he currently weighs around 190lbs and is unsure at which weight he will return with opponents lined up at both 155lbs and 170lbs.
Kavanagh has pointed out that McGregor has made weight cuts throughout his career and expects him to do the same to make his octagon comeback later this year.
“You know, Conor is a very hard trainer and he’s not going to go to the gym and mess around,” Kavanagh told Fox Sports. “The only thing he could go is lift weights. So guess what? He lifted all the weights.
“In terms of am I worried in a couple months time he’ll struggle with the weight? No. He’s made weight for 15 years, never missed once. For all his boxing fights, all his MMA fights, he’s never missed his weight class once.
“What he is going to come back I believe is much stronger. Any strength and conditioning coach will tell you, it’s not massively difficult to get somebody cardio fit, but it is hard to get them strong. So he’s focusing on what he can do now, which is get strong, strong, strong.
“The bone is well healed. As he likes to say now, he has a titanium shin for kicking people in the head. When we start the fitness training, the excess fat and the excess weight will burn off just from the amount of calories you burn doing this sport.”
McGregor is looking to make a winning return to action after suffering defeats in three of his last four fights in the UFC.
Question marks have been raised over McGregor's weight with fans impressed with his new 'ripped' physique during his previous holiday in the Bahamas.
At what weight do you think Conor McGregor should make his UFC return? Let us know in the comments section below
His previous victory came at 170lbs against Donald Cerrone and McGregor could opt to make a return to the division with a trilogy against Nate Diaz and a fight with Jorge Masvidal touted.
The 33-year-old has also expressed his desire to make a return in the summer despite his manager Tim Simpson previously suggesting his return could be delayed.
Kavanagh has backed McGregor's targeted return date and believes excitement is beginning to build within the camp.
"I think (European) summer time sounds about right,” Kavanagh continued. We’re kind of just getting back into MMA training so four months of that and couple weeks for high-intensity fight camp training.
“International Fight Week in July is always a big one for the UFC. Sounds like that would make sense. Who is the big question. I really don’t know. I really don’t know. Whoever it will be, I’m just excited if Conor’s excited by them.”
