UFC legend Conor McGregor is eyeing up a permanent move to welterweight after putting on over two-stone in his recovery from a broken leg.
The Irishman last weighed in at 156lb for his trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier in July, and has since been reported to tip the scales at over 190lb after an intensive rehabilitation plan that included lots of weight exercises. He is currently on the back end of his return from injury, and will return to sparring next month, when he will decide what's next for his career.
But he has now indicated that he is uninterested in getting back down to the 155lb lightweight limit, where he says he has accomplished all he needs to after winning the world title back in 2016. The Dublin fighter instead appears to be more interested in facing welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in a legacy-defining fight.
"Why cut the weight? I've already won the 155-pound title," he pondered in an interview with TheMacLife in Dublin this week. "I got myself to a lightweight frame, but you know, I'm big now, I feel big, I feel strong, I feel healthy. I've got good energy. I'm coming back from a gruesome injury. I don't want to be depleting myself. There should be no need to deplete myself."
McGregor has not had the best of luck at lightweight during his UFC career, winning just his title fight at the weight before losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier twice while weighing in at 155lb. He won the title there during his Cage Warriors days, but at 33, he believes that now is the time for him to make the permanent move to 170lb, where he is 2-1 with wins over Nate Diaz and Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone coming after his first fight at the weight, where he lost to Diaz at UFC 196.
Would you like to see Conor McGregor fight for the welterweight title in his octagon return? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
He has no fear of the seemingly unbeatable current champion Usman either, declaring that he is a "sloppy" wrestler with overrated striking and a complete lack of submissions in his game. There is also a ready-made rivalry between he and Usman given his association with Ali Abdelaziz; one of McGregor's fiercest enemies and the manager of Khabib Nurmagomedov.
"I feel confident against Usman," he insisted. "A jab-happy, sloppy, orthodox wrestler with no submissions whatsoever - what's he going to do? Where's the danger here? I don't see danger - no one has ever obtained three titles in three divisions like I will do if we make this fight."
First, McGregor will need to get back to sparring and be medically cleared to compete, and should he choose to wait for Usman he may be delaying his comeback further. It was confirmed this week that Leon Edwards, McGregor's Paradigm Sports stablemate, will be getting the next welterweight title fight when the Nigerian returns from a hand injury.
