Conor McGregor’s drastic body transformations in a career of gruelling weight cuts and getting hench
CONOR McGREGOR’S career has gone up and down since he first stepped foot in the octagon – but not as much as his fighting weight. The former featherweight and lightweight UFC champion faces American veteran Donald Cerrone, 36, on his anticipated cage comeback this Saturday. Despite plotting a rematch against 155lb champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, McGregor […]
CONOR McGREGOR’S career has gone up and down since he first stepped foot in the octagon – but not as much as his fighting weight.
The former featherweight and lightweight UFC champion faces American veteran Donald Cerrone, 36, on his anticipated cage comeback this Saturday.
Despite plotting a rematch against 155lb champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, McGregor will make his comeback at welterweight.
The Irishman revealed he wants to be an active fighter in 2020 after a year on the sidelines – and has decided to return without cutting weight for this weekend.
Here, SunSport investigates McGregor’s dramatic body transformations as he chopped and changed his weight divisions.
FEATHERWEIGHT
The Notorious exploded onto the UFC scene in 2013 at 145lb winning six straight before challenging cage legend Jose Aldo for the title at UFC 194 in late 2015.
After just 13 seconds and one left hand thrown, McGregor dethroned Aldo to become the new featherweight king – but has not fought in the division since.
The Irishman famously went through a gruelling weight cut to get down to the 10st 3lb limit looking gaunt for the weigh in but appeared much larger the next day.
Immediately after beating Aldo he was given a lightweight title shot against Rafeal dos Anjos, but after the Brazilian pulled out, he went on to face Nate Diaz twice at welterweight.
The Diaz rivalry derailed McGregor’s featherweight run, even though he held the title up until he challenged Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight crown, becoming the first to simultaneously hold two belts.
But the UFC eventually stripped him of his featherweight gold in 2017, meaning he reigned for 18-months as champion without defending the belt and having beefed up since his 145lb run, it is unlikely he will return to the division he first made his name.
LIGHTWEIGHT
McGregor entered the UFC as the Cage Warriors lightweight champion, but did not fight at 155lb for another six years.
After consecutive welterweight bouts against Diaz, the Irishman was given a lightweight title clash against Alvarez at UFC 205 – winning by second round KO.
McGregor admitted this was his most comfortable weight, having been undersized at welterweight but in a major battle to cut down to featherweight.
After switching to boxing for a money-spinning cameo in the ring, losing to Floyd Mayweather in 2017, The Notorious again lost his belt outside the cage.
In McGregor’s last bout, he challenged rival Nurmagomedov for his old title, but was submitted in four rounds.
Despite the return at welterweight, McGregor has insisted his business at lightweight is not over, as he vows to avenge the Nurmagomedov defeat and face No3 ranked challenger Justin Gaethje.
SUPER-WELTERWEIGHT (boxing)
McGregor took a year out of the cage in 2017 to face ring legend Floyd Mayweather in a boxing crossover.
The fight took place at super-welterweight, 154lb, which was only a 1lb lighter than lightweight in MMA, the division the UFC star fought at before his boxing debut.
Mayweather was campaigning largely at welterweight (147lb) before facing McGregor but the Irishman was happy to go through the terrors of a weight cut to make the money-spinning bout happen.
In the end the contest was set for super-welterweight and still Mayweather’s team were adamant McGregor would not make the weight.
When he did scale at 153lb it was reported he put on over a STONE for fight night, as ‘Money’ weighed in at 149lb way under the limit.
But McGregor’s quick start caught up on him in the latter rounds with Mayweather scoring a 10th round stoppage win.
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WELTERWEIGHT
McGregor tested the welterweight division in 2016 after Dos Anjos pulled out of his showdown against McGregor, leaving the UFC with 10 days to find a replacement.
Before the fight he gloated how he could eat what he pleased, as he prepared to jump 25lb, almost two stone, from featherweight to welterweight – despite weighing in at 168lb.
But the steak diet backfired as McGregor ran out of steam against Diaz and was submitted in the second round.
After a better preparation The Notorious won the rematch five months later but will fight at welterweight for the first time since the Diaz rematch, despite coming close to getting an interim 170lb title shot in summer 2018.
McGregor revealed he decided to fight Cerrone at welterweight to avoid a weight cut to lightweight while also opening up further options for future fights.
The Notorious wants to make history and become the first three-division UFC champion as he called out Kamaru Usman while also confirming his interest in a super-fight against Jorge Masvidal.
