UFC 196 weigh-in: Conor McGregor mocks Nate Diaz’s ‘soft little body’

By Case Keefer (contact)

Friday, March 4, 2016 | 5:51 p.m.

Conor McGregor rubbed his belly as he walked to the scale, a nod to the two breakfasts and steaks he says he’s enjoyed all week.

Turns out the featherweight champion could have indulged even more as he registered at 168 pounds in front of more than 8,000 fans at the UFC 196 weigh-in Friday afternoon at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. That’s three pounds below the allowable limit for his UFC 196 welterweight bout against Nate Diaz Saturday night.

“Weight should never be an issue,” McGregor said in his final comments on the stage. “Champions should be able to go up and down and fight any challenger that goes in front of them.”

That’s unconventional thinking in an era where almost every champion in the UFC stays in their original weight class to defend their belt. It’s especially novel in this case as McGregor moves up two weight classes after his originally scheduled UFC 196 opponent, lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, pulled out with an injury.

McGregor weighed in 23 pounds less in December ahead of knocking out Jose Aldo at UFC 194 to win the featherweight title. Diaz, who’s a natural lightweight but has fought previously at welterweight, also came in with weight to spare at 169 pounds.

“I was just giggling at his little soft body,” McGregor said. “How can a fat guy be so skinny at the same time? It amuses me.”

There was nothing amusing about Friday’s event to Diaz, who was booed by the largely Irish crowd. After the two main-event fighters nearly got into a skirmish at Thursday’s press conference, extra security was brought in for their weigh-in stare down.

UFC President Dana White didn’t let McGregor and Diaz within reach, meaning they had to settle for gesturing and cursing at each other. While McGregor smiled and shadowboxed for the crowd after the encounter, Diaz flipped off his opponent as he scowled walking off the stage.

“I’m here to kill or be killed,” Diaz said.

There wasn’t as much energy for the two participants in the co-headliner. Both women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm (134.5) and challenger Miesha Tate (135) made weight, but displayed evidence of a severe toll to get there.

Tate showed up after the weigh-in began, causing speculation as to whether she was struggling with the 135-pound limit. Holm looked just as drawn out as Tate, however, ahead of her first fight since stunning Ronda Rousey with a second-round knockout at UFC 193 in November.

“Whole new training camp, whole new nerves, whole new fight, whole new work in progress,” Holm said. “November’s fight was back in November.”

All 24 fighters scheduled to compete on tomorrow’s card, which begins with preliminaries on UFC Fight Pass at 3:30 p.m. before switching to Fox Sports 1 at 5 and ultimately pay-per-view at 7, made weight. But none of them came in as comfortably under their respective limit as McGregor.

For once, McGregor wasn’t the envy of his colleagues for his achievements and wealth. On this day, they were undoubtedly more jealous of his unrestricted diet.

Find full results from the UFC 196 weigh-in below.

Welterweight bout: Conor McGregor (168) vs. Nate Diaz (169)

Women’s bantamweight championship bout: Holly Holm (134.5) vs. Miesha Tate (135)

Light heavyweight bout: Gian Villante (205) vs. Ilir Latifi (205)

Light heavyweight bout: Corey Anderson (204) vs. Tom Lawlor (204.5)

Women’s bantamweight bout: Amanda Nunes (136) vs. Valentina Shevchenko (134)

Welterweight bout: Brandon Thatch (170) vs. Siyar Bahadurzada (170)

Welterweight bout: Erick Silva (170) vs. Nordine Taleb (170)

Middleweight bout: Vitor Miranda (185.5) vs. Marcelo Guimaraes (185.5)

Featherweight bout: Darren Elkins (145.5) vs. Chas Skelly (145.5)

Lightweight bout: Diego Sanchez (156) vs. Jim Miller (155.5)

Lightweight bout: Jason Saggo (155.5) vs. Justin Salas (156)

Featherweight bout: Julian Erosa (144.5) vs. Teruto Ishihara (146)

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.