Conor McGregor has boasted of having a "huge" neck after the UFC star bulked up during his time out of the cage.
The Irishman broke his leg in a second consecutive defeat by Dustin Poirier last year and has been going through a rehabilitation programme to prepare for his comeback. During the early stages of his recovery, McGregor was only able to lift weights which saw him bulk to a huge 190lb which he displayed on his social media by showing off his new ripped physique.
Fans had questioned what McGregor's new weight means, which he has since confirmed will likely signal his return at 170lb instead of his previous fights at 155lb. One fan asked McGregor on Twitter : "What the f*** happened to your neck?" McGregor quickly hit back: "It got huge."
The question was posed after McGregor posted a new image of himself on Twitter showing him with a large frame as he continues to step up his training ahead of a proposed comeback in 2023. McGregor claimed last year he had tipped the scales at 190lb following his return to training around last December after having surgery on his leg.
Several comeback fights had been touted for McGregor at 155lb including a fourth fight with Dustin Poirier, and an immediate title shot against Charles Oliveira. However after his added weight became clear, McGregor instead confirmed his plan to return to 170lb with fights against the likes of Kamaru Usman, Nate Diaz or Jorge Masvidal preferred.
The Irishman reigned as a double champion at both featherweight and lightweight, but has previously fought at 170lb in his two previous clashes against Nate Diaz, and against Donald Cerrone.
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His coach John Kavanagh has explained McGregor's reasoning for bulking up suggesting it will helped with the early stages of his recovery. “You know, Conor is a very hard trainer and he’s not going to go to the gym and mess around,” Kavanagh told Fox Sports earlier this year. “The only thing he could go is lift weights. So guess what? He lifted all the weights.
“What he is going to come back I believe is much stronger. Any strength and conditioning coach will tell you, it’s not massively difficult to get somebody cardio fit, but it is hard to get them strong. So he’s focusing on what he can do now, which is get strong, strong, strong. When we start the fitness training, the excess fat and the excess weight will burn off just from the amount of calories you burn doing this sport."
