One misplaced assumption held by many in the brief build-up to the welterweight main event at UFC 196 was that in the absence of any discernible weight cut and with the benefit of a full training camp, Conor McGregor would assuredly enjoy a significant endurance advantage over Nate Diaz.

On a night in which Miesha Tate unexpectedly dethroned Holly Holm as the women’s bantamweight champion and, indeed, during a calendar year when the favorites in big fights have never been more vulnerable, Diaz’s victory via rear-naked choke in the second round was by no means an anomaly.

Still, few could argue it was not somewhat jarring.

Making excuses

McGregor (19-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) immediately sought to establish how Diaz (19-10 MMA, 14-8 UFC), who was drafted as a late replacement for then-lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos, had managed to overcome him in such a devastating fashion with just 10 days’ preparation.

Upon arriving at the post-fight news conference at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the Dubliner posited a number of factors that contributed to his downfall.

Commending the Californian, McGregor admitted Diaz had dispersed his output with a greater prudence.

Moreover, McGregor claimed that once the fight was agreed to be contested at welterweight, he abandoned his long-held fight-week routine and indulged in gratuitous eating and extensive core-strength drills with movement coach Ido Portal.

Subsequently, there has been a widespread view that, unwilling to accept his first promotional loss, the featherweight champion was offering empty excuses.

As he is to many of MMA’s elite, George Lockhart is McGregor’s nutritionist, having been recruited by coach John Kavanagh ahead of his successful title unification bout against Jose Aldo at UFC 194 this past December.

In the interim, McGregor has followed the FitnessVT program devised by Lockhart.

Top-notch performance

However, Lockhart has revealed that the work he intended to do with McGregor in the immediate lead-up to the initially scheduled showdown with Dos Anjos was, at the Irishman’s request, canceled once Diaz entered the equation.

“I don’t know what his nutrition was the last week,” Lockhart told MMAjunkie. “I honestly don’t know what he was doing. I was out there for Holly Holm that fight because he wasn’t cutting and we didn’t really meet him.

“He’d been working on a FitnessVT program. Basically, we look at the timing, portion size and hormonal responses to food.”

McGregor and Diaz will resume hostilities next Saturday in the main event of UFC 202 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

At McGregor’s insistence, the five-round bout, originally planned for UFC 200, will be contested at welterweight and Lockhart is set to work closely with him in the coming days.

“I head out there this week to make sure he’s taken care of, feeling good and that his performance is top-notch,” Lockhart said. “When you don’t have to worry about that (weight cut), it’s super simple. We can give his as much energy and food as he needs based on the requirements of the performance.

“Obviously, we’re not really cutting this fight, so it’s all about performance, which is fun. It makes my job fun. This time, we’re going to take a look at everything and make sure it’s on point and he’s giving the body what it needs.”

The entire notion of dropping huge amounts of body mass to compete in a particular division is a divisive one, and it’s often speculated upon how much an impact it would have on fighter’s performances if they chose not to do so.

Natural weight

McGregor came in at 168 pounds at the weigh-in for UFC 196, which roughly is his natural weight. Understandably, it was thought he might be the best version of himself, given the onerous task it is for him to make the featherweight championship limit of 145 pounds.

That most certainly wasn’t the case and according to Lockhart, the absence of a weight cut is not always as beneficial as presumed, though he’s confident McGregor has since adjusted accordingly.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that sometimes cutting weight is a blessing in disguise,” Lockhart said. “When people don’t have weight to cut, they do their workout and their drills and then that’s it. They don’t do any road work or anything like that, because they don’t need to.

“When you have a big weight cut ahead of you, you do road work every day, which increases the aerobic capacity, which helps you recover quicker. What the science has shown is that, if you lose 10 pounds – not in a continuum – you can decrease your VO2 max (maximum oxygen consumption) by 10 percent, and that’s insane. But he has given himself time to get used to this weight and formulate a game plan.”

The adherence to minutiae can be difficult to comprehend at times, but Lockhart, in the simplest of language, also uncovers some of the mysteries that cloak his field.

“There are so many things that can hinder your performance,” he said. “For instance, if someone eats too close to a fight, what happens is that the body is sending blood to my stomach and is literally trying to do two things at once.

“People will say they feel great, and you can feel normal, and some people can work out straight after they eat. But here’s the kicker: Your body is trying to do two things at once. It’s trying to digest food and it’s also trying to give you the oxygenate the blood need to perform in the actual fights. So literally, you can’t be at 100 percent just by the timing of eating that food.”

Return to featherweight

Beyond the rematch with Diaz, it remains to be seen whether or not McGregor will return to the featherweight division and defend his crown – though UFC President Dana White today said that’s precisely what McGregor will do.

Jose Aldo captured the interim title at Frankie Edgar’s expense on the main card of UFC 200, and the Brazilian is definitely keen for another shot at McGregor.

“The Notorious” has said he intends to do so, while Kavanagh has frequently expressed concerns about that prospect. Regardless, Lockhart is adamant McGregor can make the drop relatively seamlessly.

“For him, cutting three times a year and then not cutting, a lot of people are wondering can he make 145 pounds again, or would it be harder,” Lockhart said. “I would say no, that wouldn’t be an issue.

“The thing about Conor is that he stays lean all the time and is very disciplined. And the leaner you are, the easier the weight cut is going to be, because muscle holds a lot of water.”

For more on UFC 202, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.