Conor McGregor has hit back at a recent report alleging he used performance-enhancing drugs with UFC’s blessing during his recovery from a 2021 leg break.
A New York Times report claimed McGregor utilized performance-enhancing drugs during a two-year layoff and that the UFC partially allowed it by permitting him to withdraw from the USADA testing pool, contributing to a rift that preceded the end of the UFC-USADA relationship in 2024.
Reacting to the story, McGregor said, “Shocking. Shocking,” and focused on the severity of his injury and the medical guidance he received. “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.”
McGregor said he followed doctors’ instructions during recovery, without confirming or denying the use of banned substances. “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.”
The UFC stated McGregor has been tested 19 times over the past two years, including 12 times in 2026, and called any suggestion that ending the USADA partnership was related to McGregor false.
McGregor, 37, is scheduled to face Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 329 on July 11 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, his first fight since the 2021 leg break.
