George Lockhart: Moving Between Weights Won’t be a Problem for McGregor

George Lockhart confirmed to SevereMMA.com on Friday that he would be overseeing both Rafael Dos Anjos and Conor McGregor’s nutrition ahead of their super fight at UFC 197 on March 5. While Lockhart will personally stick with the featherweight champion, his team will be looking after Dos Anjos as he makes his way down to 155 lbs.

The nutrition expert told the Irish website that both McGregor and his coach John Kavanagh believed that they enjoyed “the easiest weight cut of his career” at UFC 194. Lockhart also outlined how he could see the Irishman “really flourishing” as 155 lbs as he compared the featherweight champ to his fellow client, Dustin Poirier.

Following on from that conversation, Lockhart outlined to Fightland why he can see no problem with ‘The Notorious’ moving between lightweight and featherweight should his title bid against Dos Anjos be successful. McGregor laid out the blueprint for his multi-divisional aspirations at the UFC 194 post-fight press conference.

“I wouldn’t say (moving between featherweight and lightweight will be) more difficult because the cool thing about Conor is he stays exceptionally lean, and the leaner the fighter is the easier it is to cut because they hold a lot of water, and the more water I have to work with the more I can cut weight,” Lockhart told Fightland.

“A lot of people might think that a fat person can cut more water, but water doesn’t really attach itself to fat so there is not that much to cut.

“That being said, the average body builder puts on five pounds of lean muscle a year – that’s it. Those peoples’ sole intention is to build muscle and that’s what they build, they don’t have to worry about how fast they can kick or punch.

“Conor is not going to put on as much lean muscle as people think because his weight will go up. His lean muscle tissue, it holds about 13 grams of glycogen, and of that 13 grams of glycogen, each gram of glycogen holds about three grams of water. So, when you gain just a little bit of muscle there is an awful lot of extra weight that can be cut easily.

“There’s a 10-pound difference between those divisions, so he will be a little bit bigger, but in terms of cutting weight it won’t be a problem because when he moves down to 145 again we can just cut out the glycogen a little bit more.”

It is no surprise to the sought after nutrition guru that McGregor has such lofty targets having spent some time with him in the lead up to UFC 194:

“One thing I know about Conor from working with him is that he’s very confident and he wants to do things that no one has ever done before. I don’t think he’d be content with just staying at one weight and contending for one belt. I think he’s got the desire, that drive and that belief in himself that he can do both. I really do think he will do what he says and jump back between 145 and 155.”

John Kavanagh first spoke about how he feels McGregor is capable of winning three belts under the UFC banner a year and a half ago in an interview with SevereMMA.com, and he recently echoed his sentiments in a blog with the42.ie.

As far as Lockhart is concerned, like with McGregor’s goal of moving between divisions, he is not surprised that a future move to welterweight could be on the cards. However, he believes that the Dubliner would have to “take a little more to time to work up to the weight” if he made the decision.

“The talk of 170 lbs doesn’t surprise me all that much, this team have their goals. Conor is an exceptional athlete and if they were going to move up to 170 I would try to suggest that they put on a little more muscle and take a little more time to work up to the weight. It’s crazy because we actually work with Robbie Lawler too!” he laughed.

Finally, Lockhart gave his thoughts on Dos Anjos versus McGregor and how the two match up physically and technically.

“I’m really good friends with both of these guys and I want to stay in my own lane – I’m the food guy! I don’t really even watch the fights usually, I just dip out after Friday night after I know they’ve made weight and they’re all set for fight day.

“What I’ve seen from both Rafael and Conor is that they’re both crazy athletic, I know Conor’s got gas for days and I know Rafael has gas for days. I think it’s going to be an awesome fight.

“Stylistically they are different, Rafael is a very aggressive fighter and Conor is a very elusive fighter, he’s very accurate. Both of their striking is impeccable and they both have two of the top coaches in the world in their corners. Their technique is quite different because they come from different camps and I think it makes for a really amazing fight,” said Lockhart.