In October, Dana White confirmed what we’ve been writing about for months – Conor McGregor is not in USADA’s testing pool and will need to enter himself into the pool to be eligible to compete in UFC.
McGregor all but confirmed he’s out of USADA pool and taking something to make sure he can return after a catastrophic injury.
McGregor previously communicated that he plans to use an exception and be in competition prior to spending 6 months in the testing pool.
Conor McGregor must spend six months in the system before he can compete again since he is not presently part of the UFC’s testing pool. ESPN was the first to reveal the information after receiving it from a USADA representative.
Former UFC double champion Henry Cejudo had to complete that six-month wait after coming out of retirement earlier this year.
But the same rules don’t necessarily apply to McGregor who is UFC’s biggest pay-per-view draw by far.
McGregor previously used the retirement loophole.
This time there’s a lot of talk about his drastically changed physique so it’s much harder to ignore.
McGregor also fired shots at UFC light heavyweight who accused him of PED use.
‘It bothers the f*** out of me – like that he pulled himself out of the USADA pool,’ Smith explained on Michael Bisping’s Believe You Me podcast.
“There’s only one reason you would do that. He’s looking jacked as s***. You keep seeing videos of him flexing in front of mirrors and screaming and he’s huge. He healed really fast. Like, really fast.”
McGregor didn’t take these comments in kind and unleashed a tirade on twitter earlier.
MMA media is torn on how they’re interpreting McGregor’s confirmation. While some condemn McGregor for using something that would clearly trigger an USADA ban, others question how is it fair that McGregor is provided this care when so many others aren’t – and can’t even afford the access to the same.