There are a lot of people out there that have come to the conclusion that Conor McGregor got a taste of the non-fighting world and how much easier it is to be a celebrity than it is to be a celebrity fighter and therefor has been letting his fighting skills go to the wayside a bit. Last night when he made an unofficial announcement at a BKFC contest that he plans to fight later this year in UFC, I saw his face and though that he has let a bit more than just his fighting acumen slide, it looks like he has put on some serious unwanted weight.
As someone that did a bit of semi-professional fights many years ago when my body was much more able to endure that sort of training, I speak from experience when I say that post training, it is very easy to slip into a routine, especially with one's diet, that isn't conducive to maintaining peak combat-sports physicality. With Conor, and of course the paparazzi are doing the best they can to find the worst images of him, his face in particular is looking like he has been indulging perhaps a bit too much in that party lifestyle than someone who needs to be at their physical best probably should be.
Now this isn't to say that he wont be able to get back down to weight, I am sure that he will be able to because he has more resources than probably any other fighter in the world. The professional chef and dietitians will be called in as well as any other minders that are necessary to keep him from going out partying and ending up with the booze face that he has now. There have been lots of photos leaked of Conor partying the nights away and at his age especially, this is something that for one reason or another ends up in your face and cheeks in particular.
Neither of these pictures are doctored and they also were taken years apart from one another, but the difference is pretty clear. The upcoming fight isn't meant to take place until February in Abu Dhabi, which is a curious location decision, and that is more than enough time for the Irishman to get back down to the weight he will need to be and I for one will be paying careful attention to his transformation in that time.
None of this has been confirmed by the UFC and this could be problematic because Dana White - who Conor is actually starting to resemble in his pics - has not been officially included in this decision and if there is one thing that Dana really doesn't like, it is being not included in the decision making process as far as his own fight promotion is concerned. There is also the question of Conor choosing his own opponent without including UFC in the process at all. He has chosen Dan Hooker and to me this kind of sounds like a 2nd comeback fight where a tailor made fall guy has been chosen much like they did with Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone a few years back.
I can only surmise that Hooker was chosen because he is ranked just above Michael Chandler and Conor, should he win, wants to have an exclamation point put on the victory over Hooker, should it happen and use this as ammunition as how he fought someone "better" than Chandler and won. There doesn't appear to be much of a beef between Chandler and McGregor, but Conor, despite his mega-star status, doesn't take criticism very well and this decision might have been carefully contrived.
Now lets see if McGregor has what it takes to step off the booze, and get back into a rigorous training regimen. This is something that is increasingly difficult to do as you get older and at 36, Conor is right on the cusp. Regardless of what happens here, I hope it will be a good one. Thankfully for Conor, he has never had any boring fights in his career and let's just hope he doesn't start now.