Dana White, the UFC president, has disclosed that Conor McGregor is in the process of re-entering the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) testing pool. The Irish fighter was removed from testing last year after suffering a leg injury in his defeat to Dustin Poirier in July 2021.
This removal from the testing pool left McGregor unable to compete, as fighters must complete a six-month testing period before returning to action. White clarified, “He is not officially in the Usada pool,” but noted that McGregor has submitted the necessary paperwork to initiate the process.
White also mentioned that the paperwork should be processed sometime next week, possibly by Monday. However, he cautioned against setting this timeline in stone, acknowledging that some variables could affect it.
The delay in McGregor’s return to the UFC has implications for a potential bout with American fighter Michael Chandler. Typically, coaches on the UFC‘s reality TV series, The Ultimate Fighter, face off in a fight, but this fight was postponed when it came to light that McGregor was not undergoing testing.
The UFC‘s decision to remove McGregor from the testing pool generated controversy, as per Usada’s rules, fighters should only be removed if they “retire, have their contracts terminated, or are removed from the pool.” McGregor had suggested that he exited the pool to focus on his leg injury recovery, an option previously not available for fighters recuperating from serious injuries.
As for McGregor’s return, White commented, “I literally have nothing planned with Conor McGregor right now. The paperwork is being submitted. We’ll play it by ear, see how things work out. There’s still a lot of things that have to happen as far as fights go. Then we’ll see where he’s going to land.”
While there is no concrete plan at the moment, Chandler recently expressed his belief that he and McGregor could headline UFC 300, a landmark event scheduled for 2024.
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