Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight contender Conor McGregor needed to lose 27 pounds for his interim title fight, which takes place in the UFC 189 pay-per-view (PPV) main event this Saturday night (July 11, 2015) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
And he had less than two weeks to do it.
That's according to ESPN analyst Chael Sonnen, who told Jim Rome (via Bloody Elbow) that "Notorious" is already looking lean and mean -- even before shedding any skin -- after spending a few hours with the Irishman last Tuesday to preview this weekend's Chad Mendes fight.
His scouting report:
"He's a very big guy. I was impressed with how big he is. I was like 'Conor, what do you weigh?' He said 'I'm around 172 pounds.' He's got to be 145 pounds in eight days. I don't know how he's going to do it. He's very lean. He has a very busy schedule. He's training at Las Vegas. He was just in L.A. with Conan O'Brien last night. He's in New York for Reebok a day before that. He was in Connecticut the day before that. One, how does he do the weight? And two, how does he find the time? I don't know."
Dramatic weight cuts are not uncommon in combat sports, even for Sonnen.
That may change later this year when the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) implements new policies for cutting weight (more on that here), effectively putting an end to rehydration methods that require an intravenous (IV) injection and may conflict with drug testing.
Until then, let's hope McGregor doesn't wimp out.