If the rumors are true, then Conor McGregor is going to have to drop some significant weight ahead of his UFC 189 fight against Chad Mendes. And he’s going to have to do it before Saturday.
Former UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen appeared on “The Jim Rome Show” on Friday and told the host he saw McGregor recently and thought he looked huge. In fact, he looked 27-extra-pounds huge.
“I was like, ‘Conor, what do you weigh?’” Sonnen said, per Yahoo! Sports’ Ryan McKinnell. “He said, ‘About 172 pounds.’ He’s got to be 145 in eight days.”
McKinnell also pointed out that McGregor posed for a photo with middleweight champion Chris Weidman recently, and the Irishman didn’t look much smaller than the 185-pound champ. However, the last time Weidman fought in a UFC event was on May 23, so there’s really no knowing exactly how large or small Weidman is right now.
While it seems unlikely someone like McGregor would miss weight for a huge fight, and it’s pretty common for UFC fighters to lose weight quickly, that’s still a serious drop. If Sonnen is to be believed, McGregor could have to sacrifice some of his strength just to make weight. And after featherweight champion Jose Aldo already had to pull out of the bout, it would be disappointing to see McGregor done in by a weight issue.
Then again, even if McGregor really did tell Sonnen he weighed 172 pounds, there’s always the possibility he added a few pounds to create some hype ahead of his big fight. It looks as though we’ll just have to wait and see what happens Saturday.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
