Lightweights, beware: Conor McGregor is eventually moving to 155
Irish superstar Conor McGregor vaulted up to the No. 5 spot in the most recent rankings release from the UFC, which puts him in a prime position to potentially battle for the featherweight title in his next fight.
McGregor is 4-0 in the 145-pound division with three TKOs to his credit. He hopes to claim the featherweight strap in his next fight by facing either Jose Aldo or Chad Mendes after they square off at UFC 179 in Brazil.
But as much as McGregor wants to officially be called the king of the featherweights, he also looks forward to the day when he can pack on 10 more pounds and fight the best lightweights in the world. It's not so much about a step up in competition as it is McGregor's body getting shredded as he makes the cut down to 145 pounds.
"I don't like making this weight. I like fighting at lightweight. I fought at lightweight many times in my career," McGregor said after the close of UFC 178 in Las Vegas. "I'm fast at lightweight. I come in refreshed at lightweight. It's a different camp. It's a different buildup when I'm fighting at lightweight than it is fighting at featherweight.
"I'm definitely open to fighting at lightweight no doubt."
McGregor is 5-foot-9, which gives him a reach advantage over many of the featherweights at the top of the division. He wouldn't be towering over many of the lightweights, however, with fighters like champion Anthony Pettis standing at 5-foot-10, or Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, who stands an imposing 6 feet tall while fighting at 155 pounds.
Still, McGregor insists size doesn't matter and he'd tackle the lightweights the same way he did the featherweights.
"I don't feel oversized by the lightweights, so definitely," McGregor said.
The biggest motivation for McGregor going to 155 pounds really revolves around his own happiness leading up to the fight. He's admittedly miserable -- like many other fighters proclaim to be -- when cutting those last few pounds to make the required weight limit for a fight.
The extra 10 pounds he wouldn't have to shed any longer would allow McGregor to eat a more normal diet and come into his fights refreshed and smiling from ear to ear.
"Would your spirit not be different if you go into a steakhouse with your team and they're ordering like 64-ounce ribeyes, rare ribeyes, marbled and delicious. And it's cooked on a stone, they bring it on a stone so it's not even cooked and the stone is sizzling and you put butter on it and it sizzles and cooks it, and then I show up: 'Can I have chicken and can I have some salmon and some spinach, please?' That's what I'm talking about," McGregor said.
"I want to show up at these places two weeks out from the fight and be like, 'Give me the 64-ounce ribeye, some sweet potato mash, and I'll also have some dessert.'"
Well, if this fighting thing doesn't work out, McGregor probably has a future all set up on the Food Network given his description of a steak. All jokes aside, McGregor is still focused on taking on the featherweight title before any potential move to lightweight.
Next up for the Irish bad boy is a trip to Brazil later this month, where he'll sit front and center when Aldo battles Mendes with the featherweight title up for grabs. And if everything goes well for him, McGregor might be the next man in line to challenge for the belt.
