Explained: Why UFC star Conor McGregor might not have to abide by USADA’s six-month testing rule before stepping inside the octagon

Conor McGregor has been injured since July 2021 after he suffered a gruesome broken leg at UFC 264 against Dustin Poirier . 'Notorious' has been in recovery ever since and has infamously not been tested after his fight with Poirier.

However, the Irishman appears to be planning a comeback to the octagon sometime in the near future. Many have been wondering when Conor McGregor plans on re-entering the USADA testing pool to be eligible to fight again.

According to 'Notorious' as well as USADA, that may not be the case. Instead, McGregor will be able to compete if he can provide the testing agency with two negative samples prior to his return fight.

A statement was given by USADA after an inquiry from MMA journalist Aaron Bronsteter. They said that the UFC may grant a fighter exemption depending on the circumstances.

"UFC may grant an exemption to the six-month written notice rule in exceptional circumstances... under the UFC rules the athlete must provide at least two negative samples before returning to competition."

See the tweet below:

Screenshot from Aaron Bronsteter's tweet of USADA's statement

McGregor has added on an enormous amount of weight during the rehabilitation period. This has led to allegations of PED usage. However, if he can provide the required number of clean test samples, many of those accusations will fall by the wayside.

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Conor McGregor mocks Joe Rogan over commentary during Khabib Nurmagomedov fight

Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov is the biggest fight in UFC history in terms of pay-per-view sales. There was a huge amount of bad blood on both sides, with the combatants going into the fight with bad intentions.

In the fight, there were a number of what looked like illegal maneuvers on the part of McGregor. Holding onto the cage, holding onto the gloves and shorts of Nurmagomedov, and kneeing a downed opponent to the head all spring to mind.

Conor McGregor recently posted a voice tweet in which he mocked UFC commentator Joe Rogan for his remarks on an illegally placed knee:

"'That is an illegal knee on the head of a grounded opponent.' Shut up Joe you little fool ye. What are you talking about smash this and smash that? Well I smashed my knee into his f***ing eye socket yeah."

Listen to the tweet below: