Conor McGregor has responded after USADA confirmed he would need six months of testing in order to return.
After the Irishman broke his leg in his trilogy match against Dustin Poirier, it was revealed McGregor withdrew from the USADA testing pool. McGregor had said he wanted to focus on rehabbing but many fighters wondered if he was using PEDs to speed up his return.
Yet, as McGregor is set to return to the Octagon against Michael Chandler, many have been curious as to when the Irishman will re-join the USADA testing pool as he needs six months of testing. However, McGregor recently revealed he only needs two clean tests before he fights.
“I’m not rushing nothing. There’s hurdles and what not, but we’re in constant communication and there’s an interview scheduled and a meeting happens and then it will be official,” McGregor said on The MMA Hour. “But the six months thing, what they had said was two clean tests and off I go, so I assume it won’t be too long.”
After Conor McGregor made those comments, USADA released its own statement about McGregor and clarified that six months of testing is needed.
“While we meet with all athletes who enter or re-enter the testing pool, we do not currently have a meeting set with Conor and, as of today, we have not received notice of his coming out of retirement to compete,” USADA wrote about McGregor.
“The UFC rules are clear that, in addition to two negative tests, an athlete must make themself available for testing for six months before returning to competition. This is a fair way to ensure an athlete does not use the retirement status to gain an unfair advantage by using prohibited substances during the retirement period, which would enhance their performance unfairly if the ultimately decide to return to competition. While the rules permit the UFC to make an exception to the six-month rule in exceptional circumstances, when the strict application of the rule would be manifestly unfair to the athlete, our position, which we have made clear, is that Conor should be in the testing pool for the full six-month period,” USADA added about McGregor.
Now, after USADA’s comments, Conor McGregor took to social media to respond to USADA’s comments.
Usada is going in the bin.
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) March 16, 2023
“Usada is going in the bin,” McGregor tweeted.
As of right now, McGregor is still not in the USADA testing pool and it seems that he will need six months of tests regardless of what he says.
Do you think we see Conor McGregor fight this year?
