Michael Bisping: Middleweight isn't Conor McGregor's 'optimal weight class,' will hurt endurance

Michael Bisping believes fighting at 185 pounds would have a negative impact on Conor McGregor.

Although nothing has been made official, McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) announced that his comeback fight vs. Michael Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) will take place June 29 at middleweight – a division in which neither man has ever competed.

Bisping said McGregor might be big right now, but he doesn’t think the former UFC two-division champion is in shape.

“No wonder it’s 185 because Conor McGregor’s arm, I only saw his arm, but it looked a little flabby gabby,” Bisping said on his “Believe You Me” podcast. “I thought so. It looks thick. I’m not hating, but he looks a little soft there. He’s definitely bigger. Brendan Loughnane, he said he’s doing a little training with him out in Dubai. He said, ‘Yeah, he’s big. He’s at least 200 pounds.”

McGregor has fought at featherweight, lightweight and welterweight throughout his career. However, if he returns at middleweight without having to cut weight, Bisping sees it slowing him down.

“He fought at 145, went up to 155. One eighty-five, that is not his optimal weight class,” Bisping said. “Granted, he’s fighting another lightweight in Michael Chandler. The problem, though, is that, as I say, it’s not your optimal weight class, so they’re going to be carrying more weight. If you’re Conor – and I’m not hating on Conor, and I’m really excited for the fight because he’s the most exciting guy because of the energy and the presence and the hype and the performances. Win or lose, and there’s been losses recently, they’re still big moments and the comeback is going to be something special. It really is, but I think with all that extra weight it’s going to be an issue. Because not only does making weight suck, but making weight also insists on discipline because you have to.

“If I was going to make 185 pounds, I had to do my road work, I had to follow a strict diet, I had to make sure I was getting my ass in the gym because I’m not going to make weight. You can be 185 pounds. When he fights at 145 or 155, there’s not that subconscious threat of missing weight, of not being successful, of having the big comeback, the greatest comebacks in the history of the sport being a failure. Having to make weight makes you disciplined. It makes you live that monk kind of lifestyle that fighters endure and go through. On top of that, he’s not known for having the best cardio. When you’re carrying that extra weight, whether it’s muscle or fat, it’s going to tire you down, it’s going to slow you down, and it’s going to definitely affect your endurance.”