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Dana White preaches patience when it comes to Conor McGregor.
The UFC CEO provided an update on the promotion’s biggest star, specifically McGregor’s status with the USADA after the fighter announced that he was set to re-enter the testing pool and that ball is rolling on a long-awaited return to competition. McGregor has not fought since breaking his leg in a loss against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021.
White clarified that McGregor isn’t quite back to being tested, but that the process should resume soon.
“No,” White said at the UFC Vegas 80 post-fight press conference when asked if McGregor was in the USADA testing pool. “He is not officially in the USADA testing pool. He submitted the paperwork, probably by Monday he’ll be submitted. Again, don’t hold me to that, but the paperwork is submitted, next week sometime.”
In the two years that McGregor has been away, numerous names have proposed being the opponent to welcome him back to the octagon, with Michael Chandler ending up as the front-runner. The two recently served as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 31 and while plenty of work was done to hype up a potential fight between the two, at this moment the bout is still yet to be made official.
There’s also the question of when McGregor will be eligible to compete again, given that he will have to undergo six months of drug tests before being cleared. Should he re-enter the USADA testing pool in October, it’s possible that his return fight would take place in April, which is also the month in which the landmark UFC 300 event could be booked.
However, White shot down the suggestion that McGregor is a lock to headline that card.
“I literally have nothing planned for Conor McGregor right now,” White said. “The paperwork is being submitted. We’ll play it by ear, see how things work out, there’s still a lot of things that have to happen as far as fights go and then we’ll decide where he’s going to land.”
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