Dana White is trying his best to steer clear of anything relating to athlete drug testing and special fight exemptions, but the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president was recently urged to weigh in on the ongoing battle between Conor McGregor and United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
In short, McGregor is trying to fast track his Octagon comeback later this year by skipping USADA’s mandatory six-month testing period for returning fighters. The last time McGregor was in the USADA testing pool was back in 2021 when he last competed inside of the Octagon. McGregor ended up seriously breaking his leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 and is just now on the cusp of a return.
Many have noticed that McGregor has bulked up quite a bit during his time off and now that the former UFC champion is trying to re-enter UFC with just two clean tests it’s beginning to raise some red flags. If not for fans then definitely for USADA, which remains adamant that “Notorious” must submit six months of clean testing before stepping foot inside of the Octagon again.
It’s a complete mess to say the least, especially since USADA still considers McGregor retired.
As McGregor tries to publicly expose USADA and ultimately get his way the specifics about his return remain a mystery. White was asked about the situation during a media scrum on Friday (watch HERE) and completely shed responsibility for how things have, and could, turn out.
“I have no idea. I don’t pay any attention to that shit,” said White. “That’s not my job anymore, and I’m happy to be out of it. Talk to USADA, I have no idea. I want nothing to do with the whole drug testing side of this business. It’s a f—king nightmare.”
It’s unknown at this time how McGregor will work things out with USADA, but it should be noted that he’s never failed a drug test in his entire UFC career. It is also unknown at this time if the promotion will try to get McGregor a special USADA exemption because last time they did Brock Lesnar blew up UFC 200 with multiple failed tests.
