Almost five years have passed since Conor McGregor last stepped inside the Octagon, yet fans still can’t stop obsessing over his featherweight ‘skeleton’ days like the one at UFC 194. At the weigh-ins, McGregor stood stripped down on the scale in front of everyone, looking almost lifeless. However, during the fight, he finished the job in just 13 seconds, putting Jose Aldo to sleep. But have you ever wondered why McGregor never fought at 145 again after that?

Rumors have swirled for years. But back in 2017, Floyd Mayweather claimed he had a “strong source” that the Irishman used IVs despite the ban. Yet, the hype surrounding Conor McGregor largely buried those claims. Now, as McGregor prepares for a potential return to the Octagon next year, his past controversies continue to linger. This time, it was Joe Rogan revisiting the IV debates once again after all these years.

“Feeling like utter dogsh-t” Joe Rogan recalls McGregor’s savage 145-pound weight cut

“Look at him, bro. Look how sunken in he is… I mean, he must be feeling like utter dogsh-t,” Joe Rogan said on JRE episode #2431 while watching a recap of McGregor vs Aldo. “Bro, that was back when he was fighting 145. That boy was big at 145… I wonder if back then you were allowed to use IVs, ’cause you weighed in the same day. I mean, excuse me, you weighed in on the scale not the same day, the day before.”

Back then, fighters were said to have often relied on IVs to manage brutal weight cuts. They administered intravenous infusion bags filled with fluids such as water, saline, and vitamins to rehydrate quickly. However, the UFC banned IVs in October 2015, just two months before Conor McGregor fought in December of the same year.

While no one has confirmed it, McGregor might have used IVs before UFC 194. The UFC only allows IVs for medical necessity in limited doses, whether in or out of competition. After that, ‘The Notorious’ never returned to the featherweight division. Instead, he permanently moved up to 155 pounds lightweight (including two fights at 170 against Nate Diaz).

Following those bouts, Conor McGregor continued to compete at 155 pounds. Now, with his potential return on the horizon, rumors hint that he could make his next appearance in the welterweight division.

Looking back at McGregor’s comments on alleged IV use

When talking about weigh-in schedules in the U.S., fighters usually weigh in the day before the fight, typically Friday morning, and then fight the following day. This schedule gives fighters about 24 to 36 hours to rehydrate and recover before they step into the Octagon. Before the UFC 194 title unification event, the media asked Conor McGregor whether he had changed anything in his process after the UFC banned IVs.

In response, he said, “This time, so I prepared for that as well. I feel my weight is on point this time, a little bit better, you know. Not that when you’re juggling with injuries, you can’t get the sessions you need to bring the weight down to where it needs to be,” Conor McGregor said 10 years ago.

“That’s what I was dealing with back then for the Mendes fight, for the previous fight, so it was a little-bit too far,” the Irishman added.

Despite these claims, there’s no evidence that McGregor used any banned methods. Even Dana White came to his defense when Floyd Mayweather raised allegations in 2017. “Nothing is true about Mayweather’s claims,” White told TMZ Sports that year.

Interestingly, before the UFC introduced the IV ban, Jose Aldo openly challenged the decision.

Jose Aldo once pushed back against Dana White and the UFC over the IV ban

The concern around IV use went beyond fighters gaining an unfair edge. In fact, regulators also feared that fighters could use IVs to mask prohibited substances or distort blood tests designed to detect banned drugs.

Before the ban took effect, José Aldo regularly used IVs. “This is the first time in years Aldo won’t use IVs to rehydrate,” Joe Rogan said on the same podcast. After the ban came into force, Aldo—who fought McGregor in the first major title fight under the new rule—seemed to struggle in subsequent bouts. Even so, he made it clear that he planned to keep using IVs.

“I will continue to do IV, I don’t care. I’ll tell them I’m going to eat and do it instead,” he said at a press conference. “They won’t take me out of the f—ing fight, so I don’t care. They can say whatever they want, but it’s scientifically proved the best way to rehydrate. Only if they put security guard with me 24 hours a day. I don’t care. That’s what’s going to happen.”

Looking back, BJ Penn became one of the most high-profile cases when USADA handed him a six-month suspension in March 2016. Then, in 2017, UFC middleweight Paulo Costa admitted to using IVs on two occasions, and officials issued him a six-month suspension.

More recently, Dan Hooker accused Islam Makhachev of using IVs before the latter’s UFC 284 fight, but no evidence ever supported the claim.

What are your thoughts on IV use in the sport? Should the UFC reconsider the ban, given that IVs can help fighters rehydrate faster after severe weight cuts? Let us know your view below.