John Kavanagh says Conor McGregor is now more comfortable at 170 pounds than he is at 155, and that it would take something really big to pull him back down to lightweight. The shift matters because McGregor is scheduled to headline UFC 329 against Max Holloway, a rematch that puts his next chapter in view before he even gets back in the cage.
Kavanagh said McGregor has the frame and strength for 170 pounds, and pointed to his unusual orangutan reach as another reason the weight class suits him. That is a different picture from the fighter who once cut to featherweight, then lightweight, and built his name by moving through divisions with speed and force. Now the talk around him is not about another title chase at 155, but about a body that may no longer need that kind of strain.
The timing is what gives the discussion weight. McGregor and Holloway are set for a rematch of their 2013 meeting, when McGregor won by unanimous decision at featherweight. Since then, McGregor started 7-0 in UFC action at featherweight, stopped Jose Aldo in 13 seconds at UFC 194 to win the featherweight title, then moved on to defeat Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 and become the first simultaneous two-division champion in UFC history. He never defended either belt, boxed Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017, and did not return to MMA until he met Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229.
That history is why Kavanagh’s latest read lands as more than a casual comment. McGregor has not competed at 145 pounds since beating Jose Aldo, and the expectation in combat sports circles has long been that he is not heading back to featherweight. Kavanagh recently said a return to lightweight does not look likely either, which leaves 170 pounds as the cleaner fit and 155 as the exception rather than the plan.
What remains unclear is what could count as “something really big” enough to change that calculation. For now, McGregor’s next step is set: UFC 329, Holloway again, and a return that looks more like a fighter settling into a heavier home than one chasing another cut down to lightweight.
