Over the past couple of days, fans and foes have been intrigued to see what Conor McGregor looks like when he knows he doesn't have to drop to 145lb anytime soon. The prospect that McGregor would lose his competitive edge when moving up in weight to fight Rafael dos Anjos has been spoken about time and time again.
Frankie Edgar's coach, Mark Henry, was particularly scathing in his criticism of what he sees as McGregor's unfair reliance on a massive weight cut to be able to fight at featherweight and, as we've seen, dominate the division. On the other hand, you have McGregor's fans who point to the fact that he's fought at lightweight as often as he has at featherweight and without the cut, his training camp will be more rounded and he'll head into the Octagon on March 5th in better shape than he ever has been in the UFC.
The science behind the weight cut and McGregor's nutrition has been left down to George Lockhart and the performance nutritionist has long been lauded as a possible difference between winning and losing when it comes to splitting hairs between the best fighters that the UFC has to offer.
John Kavanagh was glowing in his praise of Lockhart when it came to the weight cut ahead of UFC 194. And when you see the physique that McGregor has been showing off in recent days, it's easy to understand why he's surrounding himself with the best advice possible. And that very much includes Lockhart who has been speaking to MMA Digest this week about the plan that goes in to getting McGregor ready for a challenge like the one that faces him at UFC 197.
One of the most interesting things that he had to say is that, despite all the gains that McGregor is showing off, the lightweight champ will still be walking around at a heavier weight than the Dubliner will be in the build up to the fight.
That situation is not something that Lockhart is worried about however. Although the weight gain may be obvious, the nutritionist insists that McGregor's 'speed, his agility, movement' is still front and centre when it comes to the pre-fight training camp.
You can listen to Lockhart's thoughts on the matter below.
See also: Conor McGregor Is Making Sure Everyone Knows Just How Ready He Is For UFC 197
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzPWePZI50c
