“Failed Attempts for USADA”- Providing Grim Hopes for Conor McGregor’s Return, Jorge Masvidal Shines Some Light on UFC Star’s Respect for the Sport

Former UFC fighter Jorge Masvidal has become a full-time fight promoter following his retirement from the Octagon this year. The Cuban-American owns bare-knuckle MMA promotion, Gamebred Fighting Championship, and another MMA promotion, iKON FC. His fearless fighting style was exemplified by his stunning flying-knee knockout of Ben Askren in 2019.

And while the former BMF belt holder may have stopped fighting, he is still taking shots. This time against Conor McGregor. Appearing on Chamatkar Sandhu’s YouTube channel, ‘Gamebred’ let his opinion on McGregor’s return known.

Masvidal gives his thoughts on Conor McGregor’s return

The host asked Masvidal what he thought about the Irishman’s expected clash with Michael Chandler. Masvidal made clear that he doesn’t expect ‘Notorious’ to return before next year, as he has not entered the USADA testing pool yet. “Man, you gotta first pass this thing called the USADA drug test so I don’t see that man passing that, bro. I don’t think McChicken’s gonna freaking ever pass a USADA test, bro. So maybe he does next year, I don’t know,” he said.

Masvidal felt the former featherweight and lightweight champion’s failure to enter the testing pool showed he did not respect the sport, either. “But first you got to do is respect the sport. You’re saying you’re coming back into the sport, but you have missed failed attempts for USADA. Like, man, you know respect the sport, you know,” he told Sandhu.

Finally, the 38-year-old finished by expressing his disdain for McGregor because of his failure to enter the USADA pool. “So I ain’t even giving them no shine like that. You didn’t even show up to the first part of the fight, man. Get the f*** out of here, man,” he said.

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Clearly, Masvidal is miffed at McGregor for not entering the USADA pool. McGregor is a coach on this season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). He was supposed to take on opposing coach Michael Chandler in a welterweight UFC bout in December of this year. This was to be his return to the cage after two years of inactivity.

But his failure to comply with the USADA rules has put a spanner in it, with the fight unlikely to happen this year. So, what exactly are these rules that McGregor has not complied with yet?

USADA rules that may prevent Conor McGregor from returning this year 

USADA rules require all UFC fighters to: 1. Enter the USADA testing pool at least six months before competition; 2. Provide at least two negative tests before competing. ‘Notorious’ has not yet entered the pool, which means he may not be able to compete until next year. 

However, the rules allow the UFC to exempt a fighter from the six-month rule, only requiring the fighter to return two negative samples in such cases. However, it is not clear whether the UFC will provide an exemption to McGregor. But one thing is clear, if the UFC were to do so, many fight fans would see it as unfair to other fighters, especially his opponent, Chandler, who will have to go through the rigorous testing requirements of the USADA.

Would you support the UFC giving Conor McGregor an exemption so he could fight this year? Tell us in the comments section below. 

Watch this story: Conor McGregor’s Return Timeline Revealed by Michael Chandler