Conor McGregor has recovered from his injuries and is ready to get back in the cage, but he still has hurdles to overcome before his return. The most pressing issue at the moment seems to be his situation with USADA. The former two-division UFC champion is yet to enter the testing pool of the organization since exiting it while in recovery. To make matters worse, McGregor and USADA are at odds at the moment, with their feud spilling over to public platforms.
Former UFC champion and Hall of Fame member Daniel Cormier had a discussion with retired UFC star Ben Askren about the same. The pair pointed out what is at stake for USADA in this controversy.
Conor McGregor recently went after USADA in a since-deleted Twitter rant. He did not take kindly to their statement that McGregor would not receive any exemption from the standard set of rules. Since this would delay this comeback, he went after the organization, in a no holds barred rant.
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Cormier and Askren discuss the Conor McGregor-USADA standoff
Conor McGregor recently finished filming for season 31 of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ opposite Michael Chandler. As tradition goes, TUF coaches battle it out in the cage after the season completes airing. However, with USADA’s six-month minimum in the testing pool policy, it might take McGregor longer than anticipated before entering the octagon again.
In light of this entire situation, Cormier asked, “How does he not have to do USADA? Like, he still has to do USADA right? He’s still not in the testing pool… He’s still not in the pool.”
He continued, “They just wrapped the ultimate fighter. Then they asked Dana about it and Dana said, “Conor and USADA is not my deal… I’m not dealing with it. That’s up to them…'”
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The 44-year-old further added, “If Conor doesn’t have to go to the USADA pool that’s like, next level, like, different set of rules, right? He has to do USADA.”
Askren replied, saying, “There’s no way USADA can keep their legitimacy if they don’t make Conor take a few tests.”
To sum up, the conflict is between McGregor’s desire to entire the cage as soon as possible and USADA’s insistence on their standard set of procedures. With TUF set to premiere from May 30 to August 15, many fans and pros expected McGregor and Chandler to fight in the months soon after.
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What do you make of Cormier’s and Askren’s statements? Do you think the fight will happen within the expected timeline? Give us your thoughts on the situation in the comments below.