USADA confirm Conor McGregor requires 6 months of drug testing before he can make his UFC return

The Notorious will have to wait it out if he wants to return to the UFC in 2023.

Conor McGregor has to undergo six months of drug testing and provide a minimum of at least two negative tests before he’s allowed to compete in the UFC again.

Following UFC 280 this past Saturday, UFC President Dana White confirmed McGregor is not currently enrolled in the United States Anti-Doping testing pool, which is required for all active athletes on the roster.

It was previously reported that McGregor hadn’t been tested at all in 2022, but there was no official word from USADA on whether or not he was still part of the testing pool. At the time, the organization said it was unable to verify any athlete’s participation in the testing pool.

That has now changed. After White stated McGregor needs to undergo six months of testing to compete again.

McGregor, 34, most recently fought in July 2021, when he suffered a gruesome broken leg in his fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. He was also one of the most tested athletes that year with 11 total tests during 2021.

Since that time, the former two-division UFC champion has been recovering from the injury. More recently, he’s also taken up residence in the Dominican Republic to film a prominent part in the upcoming Road House remake starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

After UFC 280, McGregor took aim at new UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and also got into an exchange with reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.

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