It appears Conor McGregor is the only active UFC fighter who has not been tested by USADA this year.
TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter did some digging into the USADA testing database and discovered that McGregor stands alone in terms of active UFC fighters who have yet to be tested in 2022.
McGregor's team and the UFC declined comment.
USADA provided TSN with the following statement: pic.twitter.com/7iNSS6BwXU
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) September 23, 2022
“After cross-referencing the entire active UFC roster with USADA’s athlete test history database, I found that Conor McGregor was the lone active fighter, (aside from some athletes who signed after Aug. 1) to not be tested by USADA.”
As seen in Bronsteter’s tweet, USADA has issued a statement on the matter without addressing the McGregor situation specifically.
“Once UFC athletes are enrolled in the testing program, they are subject to testing – even when not competing – unless they notify the UFC of their retirement, their contract is terminated, or they are otherwise removed from the program. In the event of an athlete’s return to the UFC, they are required to remain in the USADA testing pool for six months before they are permitted to compete. Similar to World Anti-Doping Agency rules, the UFC may grant an exemption to the six-month written notice rule in exceptional circumstances or where the strict application of that rule would be manifestly unfair to the athlete, but in both cases under the UFC rules, the athlete must provide at least two negative samples before returning to competition. We do not comment on the testing pool status of any particular athlete.”
McGregor hasn’t competed since July 2021, when he took on Dustin Poirier in a trilogy fight. McGregor suffered a broken tibia and fibula in the first-round TKO loss.