After Dana White’s Controversial USADA Remarks, Conor McGregor’s Return in 2023 Given Major Boost by UFC Legend

The news of the noted UFC icon Conor McGregor missing his USADA testing pool deadline disheartened a number of fans. It also earned him quite some criticism as McGregor was witnessed partying and drinking in the Monaco F1 Grand Prix. He also attended the coveted NBA match between Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets. While the time for submitting his samples to the USADA ticked away.

Currently, McGregor’s return bout against his current TUF opponent, Michael Chandler, is in a volatile condition. But Chandler, on the other hand, is still optimistic about this bout happening within this year only. He might feel a bit relieved if he listens to the recent words of the noted UFC legend, Chael Sonnen.

Chael Sonnen states even USADA insiders don’t have clarity about its rules

Most fans might know that athletes have to pass a number of USADA tests before gaining clearance to compete. These tests usually happen over a period of six months.

Sonnen started off things in his YouTube video by describing how, as per the current USADA rules, McGregor won’t be able to make his return this year. But he also revealed that he had heard a lawyer state, McGregor can still make it inside the octagon within this year.

He stated, “I’m interested in that. I’m personally interested in that”. Looking at the USADA rules applicable to athletes and the lawyer’s words about Mystic Mac, most fans might realize that one of them has to be wrong. 

‘The American Gangster’ initially bashed the USADA insiders. He stated, “If you meet an expert on the rules of USADA, you’ve met a liar, and it includes if they work for USADA”. However, he also implied that there were only a few lawyers who had in-depth knowledge about the entire rule structure of the USADA.

Sonnen said, “If you sit down with somebody, including a lawyer, and they say they’ve got a good grasp on this thing. And they explain to you what you need to do. I’m then gonna say, Ok, great. What do you do when you’re returning?” He further revealed, “The rules are completely different when you’ve already been in and you left and you’re returning”. 

Due to the confusion regarding the entire issue. Even Sonnen refrained from giving out a final opinion about McGregor returning this year.

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But a large chunk of fans might say that ‘The Bad Guy’ also looked somewhat positive about the issue.

Dana White had other measures to get Conor McGregor competing within this year

Despite all the rumors, the UFC supremo, Dana White, revealed that he had a way. Just when the rumors about the fallout of the coveted McGregor vs Chandler bout started intensifying. The UFC boss revealed that they had provisions to make McGregor compete with an exemption from the USADA testing rules.

The process states the athlete given the exemption needs to appear for a test within a certain time frame after the bout. However, failing the test might get the results of the bout overturned. The UFC had previously granted such an exemption to the former UFC Heavyweight champ and noted WWE star, Brock Lesnar.

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Prior to the UFC 200, Lesnar had also failed to complete his USADA testing cycle. But, the UFC had given him an exemption as he went on to fight his opponent Mark Hunt that night. Do you expect McGregor to receive the same treatment from Dana White and Co.?