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According to most recent reports, former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor is all set to make a return to the octagon in 2023, but could it be as a welterweight?
Conor McGregor has clearly been packing a lot of muscle onto his frame. He has also fought at 170 pounds previously, so is a move to welterweight a good idea for him?
Overall, it’s a fair question to ask. There are both pros and cons for ‘The Notorious’ looking to make a run as a welterweight in the UFC, and there seems to be as much chance of success as there is failure.
Here are three reasons why Conor McGregor at welterweight is a better idea than it sounds – and two reasons why it isn’t.
#3. Conor McGregor still hits remarkably hard
While Conor McGregor moving up to 170 pounds might mean he loses a bit of his movement and speed, one thing he certainly wouldn’t lose is his punching power.
‘The Notorious’ was a scary power puncher at 145 and 155 pounds, and had the ability to switch off the lights on opponents like Jose Aldo and Dustin Poirier with one punch. His left hook, in particular, was a true coffin nail strike.
McGregor has fought in the UFC at 170 pounds on three occasions before. While he didn’t knock the infamously iron-chinned Nate Diaz out, he was able to dispatch Donald Cerrone in under a minute. In that bout, the Irishman’s punching power looked more effective than ever.
So could McGregor knock out the UFC’s top welterweights – the likes of Jorge Masvidal, Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington and Leon Edwards?
The answer is absolutely, if he could land cleanly on them. None of the top-ranked 170lbers in the promotion are really renowned for their iron chins, and so McGregor would stand a puncher’s chance against them at a minimum.
Essentially, ‘The Notorious’ still has the ultimate equaliser in that powerful left hand, and there’s no reason why it couldn’t carry him to success at 170 pounds.
#2. Speed won’t be as much of a factor to Conor McGregor at 170 pounds after his leg injury
After suffering a severe leg injury in his 2021 loss to Dustin Poirier, nobody is really sure how Conor McGregor will look upon his long-awaited return to the UFC.
‘The Notorious’ has clearly gotten himself into excellent shape during his layoff, which is likely to be pushing the two-year mark by the time he returns. However, will the leg injury hamper him going forward?
It’s definitely likely. At his peak, McGregor relied heavily on his speed, movement and timing in the octagon, and it’s likely that the first two of those three attributes might be affected.
However, while ‘The Notorious’ might struggle post-injury with the speed of his potential opponents at 155 pounds, that might not be the same if he moves up to 170 pounds.
Sure, none of the UFC’s top welterweights are slow, per say. Compared to the 155lbers and 145lbers that McGregor is used to facing, though, they should definitely be less capable of catching him cleanly if his movement his hampered.
‘The Notorious’ isn’t likely to be considered one of the UFC’s bigger welterweights, but in this sense, it might be a better idea for him to be the smaller, slightly quicker man in the octagon.
#1. There are plenty of new money fights available for Conor McGregor at welterweight
Even if Conor McGregor’s prospective move up to 170 pounds doesn’t pay off in terms of getting him big wins to move back into title contention, it could still be a smart move for him.
That’s because there are a ton of brand-new money fights for him at welterweight, with the likes of Kamaru Usman, Jorge Masvidal, Colby Covington and a possible trilogy bout with Nate Diaz all potential options.
Sure, he could stay at 155 pounds and face opponents like Michael Chandler and Justin Gaethje, and those bouts would probably draw just as well as any others that he could take.
However, a run at 170 pounds would definitely make for some fun fights. The prospect of a bout with Masvidal in particular could be huge from a financial perspective and would also provide ‘The Notorious’ with a beatable foe.
Therefore, a move to 170 pounds for Conor McGregor might make more sense than it initially seems to.
There are clearly some good reasons for Conor McGregor to move to welterweight, but on the other hand, there are definitely some drawbacks.
#2. Conor McGregor’s chin might not cope with the power that top welterweights pack
While Conor McGregor’s blend of brutal punching power, excellent timing and footwork allowed him to ascend to the top of both the lightweight and featherweight divisions in the UFC, there were also other reasons for his success.
Perhaps the most underrated attribute of ‘The Notorious’ during his rise was his chin and durability. McGregor was more than capable of taking heavy shots from his opponents and rarely got stunned or rocked by them.
Jose Aldo, for instance, landed a clean shot to McGregor’s jaw just moments before he was knocked out by the Irishman’s left hand. Khabib Nurmagomedov outright floored ‘The Notorious’ in their fight, but McGregor recovered well, even if he didn’t come back to win the bout.
More to the point, the Irishman also survived some hellacious shots from Nate Diaz, particularly in their second fight, showing tremendous toughness in the process.
However, more recently, McGregor’s durability seems to have waned. He was knocked out by Dustin Poirier in their second fight in early 2021 – suffering his first TKO loss in MMA – and was also badly hurt by ‘The Diamond’ in their third fight.
So if his chin really has deteriorated, something that would make sense given the length of his UFC career, a move to 170 pounds could be a terrible idea for him.
Not only do some of the top fighters there hit far harder than their lightweight counterparts, but packing on muscle certainly doesn’t help the strength of a fighter’s chin.
It could well be that McGregor comes up against a larger foe like Kamaru Usman or Colby Covington, then, and suffers a devastating knockout – the kind of one that it isn’t easy to bounce back from.
#1. Conor McGregor might struggle against the wrestlers who populate the welterweight division
One thing that’s definitely notable about the UFC’s welterweight division in comparison to the lightweight division is the amount of top grapplers that populate it.
The current 155-pound champion, Islam Makhachev, is a powerful grappler, while former titleholder Charles Oliveira is one of the most venomous submission artists in UFC history.
Outside of them, though, the likes of Justin Gaethje, Michael Chandler and Rafael Fiziev are all better known for their striking.
At 170 pounds, however, you could easily argue that the current top five – Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington, Khamzat Chimaev, Belal Muhammad and Gilbert Burns – are all better known for their grappling.
Champion Leon Edwards, meanwhile, might see himself as a kickboxer – but ‘Rocky’ is a great wrestler in his own right too.
Given Conor McGregor’s previous struggles on the ground against Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier, then, what would happen if he were to face any of those six 170lbers? The likely answer is that he’d be taken down and dominated.
Sure, he’d stand a puncher’s chance against any of them, particularly if they decided to trade with him, but the truth is that they’re all horrible stylistic matches for him.
Therefore, ‘The Notorious’ might be smarter to make a return at 155 pounds instead.
