UFC legend Conor McGregor has been told he is not a "true welterweight" by the division's former champion Stephen Thompson.
McGregor, 34, makes his UFC return against Michael Chandler later this year after coaching against his rival on season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter. Thompson appeared as a guest coach for Team McGregor on the season, which airs from the end of May to August. A date and venue for McGregor's fight against Chandler is expected to be announced during one of the upcoming episodes.
Thompson insisted that McGregor wasn't as big as he expected and reached 185lb at his heaviest weight, despite UFC commentator Joe Rogan claiming McGregor weighed upwards of 200lb. "He’s not a true welterweight,” Thompson told LowKickMMA. “Most of the guys I fight, they walk around over 200 pounds.
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“He looks bigger but he’s like 185lb at his heaviest. He’s not a big big guy. We were with him and he knows when the camera turns on. It’s like telepathy. He turns on his persona. We took a picture together and we’re in our fighting stance and he inches forward so when you look at the picture, he looks so much bigger than me. He knows how to do it.”
Thompson also said that McGregor has been extremely respectful during their previous interactions and he only flips into his brash persona when the cameras are around. "All my experiences when there are no cameras on, he is a great guy. Very cordial, he will shake your hand. When the camera turns on, he turns into his persona," he added.
McGregor piled on the pounds after breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier in their July 2021 trilogy fight due to being limited to upper body training whilst recovering from the injury. The weight gain has left fans - and even McGregor's next opponent - sceptical as to whether his comeback fight will take place at welterweight or lightweight later this year.
The Irishman even hinted at a move up to middleweight in the future as he tweeted last December: "I’m going to give middleweight a go at some point 100 per cent. I'd be a big fridge at middleweight, but hot like oven same time, ye know yourself, catch it on ppv.
"Don't know tho. It'll be hard work. Those rounds against those [middleweights/light-heavyweights], they were alternating fresh each round. I've put in psycho work doing this job over the years."
