Conor McGregor congratulated Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland after UFC 293. McGregor appreciated the champion and challenger for their polar opposite styles and appreciated them for putting on a great MMA exhibition.
McGregor has been out of action for an extended period and is expected to make his return to the octagon in early 2024. The Irishman has visibly gained a considerable amount of weight, which is noticeable in his recent appearances.
Conor McGregor eyes middleweight fight
The Notorious served as the coach on TUF 31 against Michael Chandler. During their initial interaction, McGregor hinted that his return to the octagon would be in the middleweight division.
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Fans and MMA analysts have already speculated that McGregor’s return to the octagon would not be in the lightweight division. McGregor was noticeably larger than Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson when they were photographed together during TUF 31.
In response to a fan’s tweet suggesting he’s a welterweight, McGregor reposted it with the caption, “185,” indicating his desire to compete in the middleweight division. In another tweet, where a fan encouraged McGregor to fight Sean Strickland at 185 for the title, the Irishman supported the idea and expressed his interest.
The Irishman has fought in three different weight classes in the UFC: featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight. He is one of the select few to have knockout victories in three different weight classes. Lightweight is considered the ideal weight class for the “Notorious”
Conor McGregor, as cutting too much weight to make featherweight and being undersized at middleweight are challenges he faces. Michael Chandler is likely his next opponent, and Chandler has no qualms about fighting McGregor in any weight class.
“The Notorious” predicts Sean Strickland’s title reign
Even though McGregor congratulated Sean Strickland for the victory, he also predicted that Strickland wouldn’t hold the title for long. He reposted an interview by UFC Europe with a caption insinuating that Strickland wouldn’t last as a champion for more than a month.
In his interview, Strickland humorously predicted that he would get ‘cancelled’ in two months. The middleweight champion was banned on Twitter before it was taken over by Elon Musk and rebranded as X.
Sean Strickland defeated Israel Adesanya in a masterclass performance at UFC 293. As a significant underdog in the betting, Strickland proved elusive for the the Nigerian fighter. Conor congratulated both the champion and challenger for their efforts in the main event of UFC 293.
The Middleweight division is now wide open with Strickland as the champion. The only fighters who predicted a Sean Strickland victory were Alex Periera and Merab Dvalishvili. Dvalishvili even went so far as to predict a 5-round unanimous decision.
McGregor did not have a title reign, despite being a double champion. After winning the featherweight title against Jose Aldo, he moved up to welterweight and fought Nate Diaz twice, losing the first fight via submission and winning the rematch via majority decision.
What do you think of McGregor as a middleweight? Can he win the middleweight title?
