Conor McGregor’s Loss to Nate Diaz Should Be a Lesson to Amir Khan

Conor McGregor moving up massively in weight and losing should be a lesson to Amir Khan, if you move up two weight divisions and think things are going to be ok…

Moving up in weight should always be a big decision, moving up two weight divisions in one go, probably should never be done.

Conor McGregor was going to move up just one weight division to fight Rafael dos Anjos. That fight fell through when dos Anjos injured his foot. Then, it appeared “no one wanted to fight McGregor,” something I found odd to say the least. The UFC is filled with ‘warriors’ that will fight anyone at anytime they say, but no one would take on McGregor for big bucks.

This left Conor McGregor in what should of been a very awkward position, picking to fight a guy that is two weight divisions up from where he won the featherweight championship.

As soon as I heard that interview where McGregor was taking jumping up in weight lightly, I became concerned. McGregor was going to fight Diaz at 160lbs originally, then Diaz said he couldn’t make 160, so then it was going to be 165, but Diaz once again said he couldn’t make that, so Conor acted in an almost impatient manor and said “lets do it at 170.” So Conor McGregor moved up from 145lbs to 170lbs.

Amir Khan is moving up from 147lbs to 155lbs. Also, bare in mind, Khan has only had 4 fights at 147lbs and most of his 34 fights were at 135lbs. A more natural weight for the Olympic silver medalist.

Khan also said how and why he didn’t want to press for a ‘no rehydration clause,’ saying, “I wanted to do everything naturally because when I beat him I wanted to beat him fair and square and I don’t want people thinking ‘He was too dehydrated, he was too small, he couldn’t put weight on’.”

“I want to beat the best Alvarez, fight the best Alvarez. The fights I’ve been watching he was really hydrated, and normal, where he was happy making the weight.”

This means Canelo could put on he’s standard 20lbs and be at around 170 to 175lbs come fight night. You can be sure Khan will not be anywhere near 175lbs on the night of the fight.

When a fighter moves up in weight, there is a common misconception that this fighter will be stronger, have a heavier punch, but the fact is, they don’t. Also, not only do they not carry that power up with them, things become weaker, like their chin.

A good example of a fighter not bringing their power with them when they move up in weight would be Floyd Mayweather.

When Mayweather was ‘Pretty Boy Floyd’ he was fighting at his natural weight, he had nice power and that’s where he got the majority of his 26 knockouts. When he became ‘Money Mayweather’ he knew that he didn’t have the same power, with not having power against bigger fighters, he was forced to fight in a ‘smarter’ manor.

When you see someone fighting someone two weight divisions above their normal weight, for me, it’s sometimes like watching an 11 year old being bullied by a 13 year old.