Conor McGregor has bluntly told UFC chief Dana White „I deserve my fight date‘ after sharing his drugs test result on social media. The 36-year-old has not stepped into the octagon since July 2021, when he suffered a broken tibia in his defeat to Dustin Poirier.
In the three years since, frequent speculation over a return date has not come to fruition, although ‚The Notorious‘ finally seemed set to end his exile in June this year.
It was announced he would fight in a welterweight bout against Michael Chandler at UFC 303, only for the clash to be cancelled just 16 days beforehand with the UFC citing McGregor’s ongoing injury problems.
During his rehabilitation, McGregor removed himself from the USADA drug-testing pool, prompting suggestions the former two weight class champion was about to retire. Regulations state UFC athletes must be part of the pool for six months before fighting.
But the organisation confirmed the Irishman had re-entered the pool in October 2023. And in a direct plea to White, he’s posted a copy of his latest sample result on X.
In what appeared an e-mail to McGregor, it read: „Dear Conor McGregor, We are pleased to inform you that sample E004244, that you provided on 13 September 2024, returned a NEGATIVE result from the lab. Thank you to your contribution to supporting a clean UFC.“
McGregor captioned the picture with a telling comment, writing: „Most tested athlete on the UFC roster x2. I deserve my fight date! #cleanathlete.“
McGregor currently has two fights remaining on his UFC contract. He’s widely expected to leave White’s organisation when the deal expires, and has been linked with a move to the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
Despite his absence, McGregor has remained in the public eye. And on Saturday night he was at Wembley to watch the IBF world heavyweight title fight between Daniel Dubois and Anthony Joshua, and was his usual theatrical self in the crowd.
Speaking at the event, he also claimed he intended to now fight twice in 2025, despite Chandler now accepting a bout against Charles Oliveira for UFC 309. „My job is to go to the gym, be in the gym, and be in shape,“ he told Ariel Helwani.
„One thing for sure is, whenever and wherever it [the fight against Chandler] is, I will be 100 percent ready. I’m the highest-generating fighter on planet Earth right now.“