USADA to split with UFC over Conor McGregor, testing policy
UFC and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency is coming to an end, which could mean that Conor McGregor will be back in the octagon sooner than anticipated.
USADA CEO Travis Tygart on Wednesday made a pair of announcements in a statement regarding his agency's relationship with the UFC.
First, McGregor is reentering USADA's drug-testing pool. Second, it may not be for long as USADA will end its partnership with the UFC on Jan.
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Tygart stated that the two sides met recently about renewing USADA's contract to run the UFC's anti-doping program (a role USADA has served since 2015). But, according to Tygart's statement, «Despite a positive and productive meeting about a contract renewal in May 2023, the UFC did an about-face and informed USADA on Monday, October 9, that it was going in a different direction.»
At the heart of the issue is McGregor.
After suffering a broken leg against Dustin Poirier in July 2021, McGregor withdrew from the USADA drug-testing pool while he rehabilitated his injury. Per USADA rules, a fighter must spend six months in the testing pool and pass two drug tests before they can return to fighting.
Until Tygart's statement, McGregor had yet to re-enter the testing pool.
USADA also took issue with statements made about McGregor's status by people associated with the UFC.
In a July interview, UFC president Dana White said, «We'll see how that plays out,» when talking about whether McGregor needed to be in the testing pool for six months.
