Irish UFC star Conor McGregor looked in outstanding shape after several weeks spent training in the Algarve ahead of his pivotal January rematch with lightweight title rival Dustin Poirier, channeling Oscar Wilde upon his return.
The “Notorious”, 32, will set foot in the UFC cage for the first time in almost exactly a year when he faces former title challenger Poirier on “Fight Island” on January 23 in a sequel to their UFC 178 clash six years ago, which McGregor won by first-round TKO.
All these years later, both men approach their second fight on a very different foundation to their first.
McGregor has become one of the biggest generational stars in combat sports, winning world titles in two separate weight classes to realize his soothsaying “Mystic Mac” predictions in which he promised exactly that.
Poirier, too, enters the fight in a different gear. Since that ego-bruising defeat to McGregor he has been on a tear – winning an (interim) world title in the lightweight frame before surrendering to Khabib Nurmagomedov in what was the Russian champion’s second title defence last year.
Predictably, all eyes are on the returning McGregor in what will just be his third UFC bout in the past four years.
Judging by the images posted to his Instagram, McGregor has left no stone unturned in his quest to enter the fight in supreme condition.
The now shaven-headed provocateur looked to be ripped as he wrote on the social media platform, apparently from a Portuguese airport, that he had nothing to declare to customs “except my genius” while posting photos of him decked out in a skintight top.
McGregor has been in Portugal for the last several weeks, with photographs of him exercising at Lagos’ Camilo beach noted by the town’s council, who wrote online: “Who would have thought that the emblematic stairway of this dream beach would be used for a power sprint of this reputed athlete?“
The Dubliner was previously reported to have been staying at a $13,500 luxury villa but will return to his native Ireland for the final preparations ahead of what will be the UFC’s first high-profile fight of the new year.
