Conor McGregor has been sidelined from competition for almost a year following the leg injury he suffered last year.
While recovering from the devastating injury, he keeps his followers updated with various posts about his training. He also piled on a good amount of muscles during the break.
Recently, it was revealed that the Irishman was absent from the USADA testing pool for approximately 8-9 months.
It is mandatory for every active UFC fighter to be a part of the testing pool for at least 6 months to be eligible to compete.
This also makes Conor McGregor doping accusations a lot more credible considering he’s under no scrutiny.
Further, while it’s standard procedure for an athlete to be in the USADA pool for 6 months there have been exceptions. Most notably for Brock Lesnar at UFC 200.
Reacting to the news, former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo shared his thoughts.
He took to Twitter to call the fellow double champ McGregor to re-enter the testing pool.
“Come on in, the water’s fine! @TheNotoriousMMA #TheReturn #McTapper”
Come on in, the water's fine! @TheNotoriousMMA #TheReturn #McTapper https://t.co/pqHzFsyaCX
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) May 7, 2022
Cejudo has been suggesting a showdown with the Notorious one at lightweight, a division McGregor last competed in. But, contrary to popular belief, McGregor seems reluctant to cut weight and is looking forward to competing at 170lbs.
Later Ariel Helwani added that McGregor’s potential return has been pushed back and will likely happen in Q1 of 2023.
Helwani said: “We all know Conor McGregor would be the UFC’s top choice to fight Nate Diaz.”
“But the latest I was told was he may not even fight this year after all.”
“Maybe the first quarter of 2023. I always said no sooner than November, anyway.”