USADA Fires Back At Conor McGregor Over His Drug Test Claims

For some reason, despite not competing in almost two years, Conor McGregor doesn’t think the normal drug testing rules apply to him.

Perhaps he knows something that the rest of the MMA world, including the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) doesn’t.

McGregor will be coaching The Ultimate Fighter 31, his second time coaching on the show, this summer. Following that, he will take on his opposing coach, former three-time Bellator lightweight world champion Michael Chandler, at a UFC event to be determined.

On Thursday, Conor McGregor, a former UFC featherweight and lightweight double-champion, sat down for an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.

“Much has been made of this USADA pool. Are we back in finally? ‘Cause that’s when the clock starts to the comeback, right?” Helwani mentioned to McGregor during the interview,

“Yeah, I mean, it just, it’s, I’m not rushing nothing right? So there’s there’s hurdles and whatnot, but we’re in contact. We’re in constnt communication and there’s a meeting there’s an interview scheduled and a meeting happen and then it will be official,” Conor replied.

“Okay, so, but the six month thing is… what they had said was is two clean tests,” McGregor continued, while looking off camera at something for what appeared to be verfication. “and, uh, off I go.

“So, I’m, that’s, that’s why I’m not, you know, I assume it won’t be too long, you know?”

His claim about the two drug tests matches what he tweeted last November.

Why he would need three months to be “clear for testing” was a question many people in the MMA world had after the tweet. Many also wondered why McGregor had been allowed to remove himself from the USADA program in the first place.

Interestingly, after Conor McGregor’s appearance on The MMA Hour and his claims about drug testing, the USADA issued a statement.

“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 (Thursday), we have not received notice of his coming out of retirement to compete,” the statement read.

“The UFC rules are clear that, in addition to two negative tests, an athlete must make themself available for testing 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 they 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.”

In a since-deleted tweet, Conor responded, “This is my issue. I’ve not lied once. Nor have I tested positive. Ever. I have over 70 clean tests under this program, yet they are consistently coming out after I speak in a manner that makes it seem I am lying. It’s ridiculous. F— used. You are in The Bin.”

After hearing the interview and seeing the USADA’s reaction, most MMA fans are of the mind that either McGregor will get an exception like Brock Lesnar did, or his fight with Michael Chandler will never happen.

Watch the entire interview on The MMA Hour with Conor McGregor below.