Conor McGregor Ranked 9th in Sports Illustrated’s Fittest 50 Athletes

Conor McGregor is no stranger to magazine features and covers. Last year, McGregor and his millions he slid into Forbes top 100 highest paid athletes at number 85. This year? In addition to being a GQ cover boy, he rocketed to number 24 on Forbes list. After his fight with Floyd Mayweather, he’s on track to make it into the top 10 of the 2018 edition, no matter if he fights again or not. Recently, it was another magazine that featured Conor McGregor. The brash Irishman just made it into Sports Illustrated top 50 fittest athletes, beating out some very surprising fighters.

Sports Illustrated ranked Conor McGregor the 9th-most conditioned athlete in the world. Gennady Golovkin was 11th. Mighty Mouse 15th.

— Jimmy Clarke (@JimmyClarke) September 21, 2017

The final rev of the engine on the @mcgregorsfast conditioning program tonight!
What a camp it has been! pic.twitter.com/eKRpGvgHOm

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) August 22, 2017

“Ireland’s unapologetic, unabashed superstar athlete may have lost to Floyd Mayweather, but the 29-year-old’s ability to compete against one of boxing’s best—after already making history in a completely different sport, becoming the first to hold two UFC belts at two different weight divisions at one time —speaks to his insane level of fitness and athletic abilities.” — Conor McGregor’s entry via Sports Illustrated.

Triathlete and one-half of the superb cardio brothers, Nate Diaz was left off the list. Actually, Conor McGregor and Demetrious Johnson were the only UFC men featured on the list. They weren’t the only fighters featured in the Sports Illustrated issue though. Other notable MMA mentions were in the top 50 fittest women’s section. Holly Holm was ranked 12th, Karolina Kowalkiewicz was ranked 22nd, Cris Cyborg was ranked 26th, but UFC straweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk and bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes were not listed. 

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 9/21/2017.