Conor McGregor has issued a response to a recent report that alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs in a partial allowance from the UFC.
The biggest draw in the sport’s history, McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) was accused of taking prohibited substances during a two-year period of his recovery from a nasty leg break he sustained during a 2021 UFC bout. The New York Times reported last week that McGregor’s alleged PED use was in part aided by the UFC, as the promotion permitted the Irishman to withdraw from their then drug testing partner, United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). NYT said this situation caused a rift between the UFC and USADA, and it eventually led to the end of their relationship starting in 2024.
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“Shocking. Shocking,” McGregor said Tuesday on The Ariel Helwani Show. “A man’s private medical (information): the most devastating injury that you could see in combat sports. The whole thing is strange to me. You have an injury like that, you’re not going to walk again. The objective should be to get that athlete, that fighter, who’s given his life, his limb, his livelihood for the entertainment of the people and the profit of the company, it should be to get this man back on his feet, and that was not the case. Not with the UFC, but the former body (USADA) that was there prior – and I find that strange, and I find that wrong. All I cared about was… I’m airlifted out of this f*cking arena with my leg hanging off, ‘How am I going to walk again?’ A bar, ‘Do this, does that, do it.’ That’s it. That was that. The fact that five years after the fact, I just find it strange, to be honest. I feel the game has changed to accommodate a situation like that.”
McGregor was surprised by the report. He didn’t confirm or deny taking banned drugs, but added that USADA wasn’t accommodating to the gravity of his situation. He said he only followed medical guidance exclusively to recover from his gruesome injury.
“If a doctor is prescribing certain things and medications and stuff like that, otherwise you’re not going to walk again, There’s like a 20 percent chance that leg doesn’t join together,” McGregor said. “It’s called nonunion when the bone doesn’t join, and you’re left on a wobble forever. That’s what’s at stake here? F*ck this fighting game. Are you crazy? I have children to raise and play with. I was a bit shocked that was the case. So whatever, I took myself out of the pool and listened to my doctors. I didn’t even ask questions. If you’re going to ask what was it, I don’t even know. I don’t want to know. All I want to know is what’s going to get me back on my f*cking feet to be able to play with my children in a normal capacity again. That was it.”
In late 2023, USADA CEO Travis Tygart announced that his company would in 2024 no longer continue running the anti-doping program for the UFC and that McGregor had re-entered the testing pool. In an unprecedented move, McGregor had withdrawn from the testing pool, yet, he was still a UFC fighter and had not officially retired – the only two conditions that would remove a UFC athlete from the USADA testing pool at the time.
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The USADA-UFC relationship didn’t seem to end in great terms. Tygart said in his statement that USADA had been “clear and firm” with UFC in not allowing McGregor back into competition unless he had negative drug test results and had been in the USADA testing pool for at least six months. He also said with their partnership coming to an end that USADA did not know if the UFC would “ultimately honor” that guideline.
Months after the announcement, in December 2024, the UFC announced a new partnership with Drug Free Sport International, who currently oversees their anti-doping program. Under that program, McGregor has been tested 19 times, more than any other athlete on the roster.
The UFC also posted an official statement regarding New York Times’ investigation:
In 2021, Conor McGregor sustained a potentially career-ending injury and sought medical guidance from leading orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who advised the appropriate recovery and rehabilitation protocol. As a result, McGregor did not compete for five years and maintained proper communication with our team throughout, remaining in full compliance with the rules of our comprehensive drug program.
McGregor has been tested 19 times over the past two years, including 12 times in 2026, making him the most tested athlete during this time.
Any suggestion that UFC’s decision to end its partnership with USADA was related to Conor McGregor is categorically false. Internal communications and documentation clearly show that discussions regarding a transition away from USADA began months before any conversations involving McGregor.
This narrative is a continued attempt by USADA leadership to misrepresent the facts surrounding UFC’s unilateral decision to terminate our agreement with them and instead choose to partner with a far more competent, organized, and sophisticated testing group comprised of Drug Free Sport, Combat Sports Anti-Doping, and SMRTL laboratories.
McGregor, 37, will compete this summer in his first fight since his 2021 leg break. He fights former UFC featherweight and BMF champion Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC star Conor McGregor responds to report of alleged PED use
