Joe Rogan shares theory on Conor McGregor’s decision to fight at welterweight

Joe Rogan has an interesting theory as to why Conor McGregor agreed to fight Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at welterweight, rather than lightweight.

Rogan suspects McGregor is a little tired of cutting weight, and that the Irishman views Cerrone as a lightweight who can compete at welterweight, rather than a true welterweight. In other words, he gets to enjoy an easy weight cut without having to fight a giant.

Here’s how the UFC commentator explained it, speaking on a recent edition of the Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show.

“Because Conor doesn’t want to lose any weight,” Rogan said (via MMAFighting.com). “I think that guy tortured himself to get down to 145 [pounds] so hard – and when you look at what he looked like when he was on the scale, when he was flexing, he looked like a god damn zombie. It was horrible. So I think, whether he complains or not about that, nobody rides for free. You do that to your body for a couple of years, you do some damage and it makes it harder to lose the weight afterwards.

“So then he’s going up to 155,” Rogan continued. “He’s obviously elite at 155, wins the title at 155, has the great rematch with Diaz at 170 and then comes back and fights Khabib at 155 and gets mauled. He has a fight with Cowboy, he’s really a ’55er that can fight welterweight. That’s the right size for him versus, I don’t think Nate is fighting 155 any time in the future anymore.”

McGregor and Cowboy will meet in the main event of UFC 246 on January 18 in Las Vegas, Nevada. While the fight will occur in the welterweight division, the winner will certainly be well positioned for big fights at both welterweight and lightweight.

Joe Rogan will most likely be on commentary duty for this massive pay-per-view event, which means we’ll probably be treated to more of his insights into the matchup on fight night.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 12/5/2019.