Conor McGregor wants to become a three-weight UFC champion by challenging Kamaru Usman in his comeback fight, but the Irishman has been warned against a welterweight return.
McGregor, who has previously won titles at featherweight and lightweight, hasn't competed since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier in their trilogy fight last July. Promising to waltz his way back into a title shot, the Irishman wants Usman as his next opponent.
But he has been advised to take a warm-up fight before challenging any elite fighters at welterweight. Stephen Thompson, a former welterweight title challenger, has also weighed in on McGregor's return telling him it's a "mistake" to fight at 170-pounds.
"As for him moving up to welterweight, I think it’s a mistake. We’ve seen a lot of guys come up to weight classes, put on a lot of muscle, and then they’re nothing like they were before right," Thompson told Give Me Sport.
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“You have a lot of guys who put on a lot of muscle, they put it on too fast and don’t really know how to cope with the muscle when they’re out there. It’s very tiring when you put on all that muscle but especially against powerhouses like [Kamaru] Usman and [Colby] Covington.
“We’ve got a lot of high-level wrestlers and why would he want to come to the most stacked and most difficult weight class at 170? I literally think my weight class is the most stacked weight class in the UFC. We have a murderers’ row of the top 10 guys who are all very dangerous."
McGregor has competed three times at welterweight in the UFC, losing once to Nate Diaz but avenging the loss just five months later. His other fight at the weight class marked his last win in the promotion, a 40-second knockout of Donald Cerrone in 2020.
Usman is unlikely to entertain a fight with McGregor next after agreeing to fight Leon Edwards later this year. The pound-for-pound No.1 was supposed to fight in July, but has delayed his return because of a hand injury.
Thompson has verbally agreed to fight McGregor's rival Poirier on Twitter, with the pair targeting UFC 277 on July 30 as a potential date for the fight. Despite advising against McGregor fighting at 170-pounds, Thompson said he would take a fight against him "in a heartbeat".
