SUMMARY
- Conor McGregor made headlines after announcing his return on June 29 through his Instagram post on New Year's Eve.
- McGregor last stepped in the octagon at UFC 264 for the fight trilogy against former Interim Lightweight Champion Dustin Poirier.
Conor McGregor is an Irish mixed martial artist and a name that has become synonymous with the MMA world. One of the most popular sports personalities in current times, the Notorious has always created buzz and hype. The former UFC double champion made headlines after announcing his return on June 29 through his Instagram post on New Year’s Eve.
Further disclosed the fight to be against much-awaited opponent Michael Chandler. What surprised the MMA community even more was the weight class at which Conor McGregor chose his return, which would be middleweight for 185 lbs. McGregor has previously fought in the featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight divisions.
Conor McGregor reveals he will fight Michael Chandler on June 29 at MIDDLEWEIGHT, with ‘Notorious’ finally announcing his huge comeback in video while swirling red wine https://t.co/PykxUCStQs pic.twitter.com/TiNXnzqm4M
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) December 31, 2023
Conor McGregor last stepped in the octagon at UFC 264 for the fight trilogy against former Interim Lightweight Champion Dustin Poirier. The bout turned out to be a nightmare for the Irish after suffering a devastating injury due to a broken shinbone and losing via doctor stoppage. After almost a two-year layoff, McGregor returned as a coach for TUF season 31.
UFC fighters who have fought across four or more divisions
Becoming the first UFC fighter to hold UFC Championships in two weight classes simultaneously. Moreover, having headlined the five highest-selling UFC PPV events, McGregor may add another record to his name. He becomes the third UFC fighter to compete in four different divisions for the organization. Let’s have a look at the other two fighters.
Kenny Florian
Kenny Florian is a former American mixed martial artist who made his debut with the UFC at ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ season 1 finale. He faced UFC fighter Diego Sanchez, losing via first-round TKO. Kenny went on to compete in four divisions of the UFC, including featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, and middleweight.
Starting his career at middleweight, Florian later went down to welterweight and lightweight. He fought twice for the UFC Lightweight Championship against Sean Sherk and B.J. Penn at UFC 64 and UFC 101, respectively. The former UFC fighter couldn’t secure a win and decided to go down to featherweight at the end of his career.
He would go on to win his featherweight debut against Diego Nunes at UFC 131, which earned him the title shot. For his last match, he faced UFC legend José Aldo at UFC 136 for the UFC featherweight title. After losing his fight via decision and facing multiple health issues and career injuries, Kenny finally announced his retirement in 2012.
Diego Sanchez
The only other one on the list would be Kenny Florian’s TUF season 1 competitor, veteran Diego Sanchez. Sanchez, too, has competed in the same divisions as Kenny did and as McGregor claims to do. This would be the UFC featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, and middleweight divisions.
If this happens at 185,@TheNotoriousMMA would join Diego Sanchez & Kenny Florian as only fighters in UFC history to fight in 4 weight classes (only Florian won in four).
Sanchez & Florian both started at 185 and went down. McGregor started at 145 and has escalated.
📝 @MikeBohn pic.twitter.com/smYalKJQGk— skmma (@_skmma_) January 1, 2024
Just like Kenny, Sanchez made his debut at middleweight in the TUF Season 1 finale against the former. He then moved down to Welterweight and competed for 3 years in the division. Then he moved to lightweight and challenged B.J. Penn for the title at UFC 107, losing via TKO.
After this, for most of his career, he competed in both the welterweight and lightweight divisions and saw success in both. Sanchez only competed once at featherweight against Ricardo Lamas at the TUF season 2 final and lost the fight via decision. His final bout would be at welterweight against Jake Matthews at UFC 253, losing via decision. The fighter was released by the UFC in 2020.