Getty Conor McGregor.
UFC superstar Conor McGregor looks insanely jacked in a recent training photo shared by wrestling coach Sergey Pikulskiy.
Former two-division champion McGregor has been on the sidelines since his last outing against Dustin Poirier in Jul. 2021 at UFC 264. McGregor suffered a horrific leg break during the contest and needed to undergo surgery. He has been swiftly recovering from the injury and intends to take to the octagon again sometime next year.
While away from competition, ‘Notorious’ got selected to make his Hollywood debut in the upcoming remake of the 1989 cult classic film “Road House.” He is busy in production for the project and has gained a significant amount of muscle mass. Earlier this week, many fans were left stunned to see McGregor without a beard, after years of his signature look, while sporting a pilot outfit for Halloween,
Pikulskiy is a wrestling coach at SBG (Straight Blast Gym), founded and run by renowned coach John Kavanagh in Dublin, Ireland. He took to Instagram to share a photo with McGregor in a training session where the Irish icon looks massive and still beardless.
McGregor Must Remain in the Drug Testing Pool for at Least 6 Months Before He Could Return
Aaron Bronsteter of TSN Sports reported that McGregor was the only athlete on the UFC roster yet to be tested by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in 2022.
As per the UFC’s anti-doping policy, fighters are subject to year-round random anti-doping testing until they are either released from their contract or notify the UFC of their retirement. The possibility of retirement got ruled out due to McGregor’s presence in the official top-15 rankings of lightweights.
At the UFC 280 post-fight press conference last month, UFC president Dana White confirmed that McGregor would need to be in the USADA drug testing pool for at least six months before he could make his comeback.
“Speaking of USADA, it appears on the database that Conor McGregor hasn’t been tested this year,” a reporter asked. “Would he have to complete six months before he could compete?”
“Yeah,” White replied.
“So he can’t return until six months?” she followed up.
“Right,” White said.
Chael Sonnen Hypothesized McGregor Might Have Had a Violation
Following the news of McGregor not being in the testing pool, Chael Sonnen took to his YouTube channel to give a detailed breakdown of why McGregor might be required to stay in it for six months before getting back inside the octagon.
“I think that we would also need to give a real good look at whoever’s reporting that it’s six months,” Sonnen said. “They could’ve changed the rules in the last few years, I will just tell you if you retired and you returned, it was four months. If you had never entered at all, it was two, except for in extenuating circumstances.
“It was six months only if you had removed yourself from the pool and you were a prior violator. So the good media would have sprung right on this when USADA or team McGregor said it’s six months. They would’ve sprung right into action, ‘my goodness, Conor had a fail that we don’t know about.’ They would’ve either had a red hot story or they would have had a correction. There’s no other way that you get six months.
“If McGregor has to sit for six months and USADA hasn’t changed the rules in the last three years, then we have a previous violation. Now, we don’t. Conor did nothing wrong. That isn’t a hot take. I’m not looking to dangle something in front of you guys.
“It is being reported that Conor has to re-enter USADA for six months. He only has to re-enter USADA for six months if he had a violation. First off, that should be breaking news but nobody thought to ask it because they don’t know the damn rules, or second, somebody misspoke.”
Per 5.7.4 of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, the time period is still six months if “a new or returning Athlete who admits or has an established and verifiable history of the Use, Attempted Use or Possession of clomiphene, a Non-Specified Method, or a Non-Specified Substance prohibited at all times by the UFC Prohibited List while the Athlete was not subject to an Anti-Doping Policy.
However, the provision would not apply if McGregor’s “Use of the Prohibited Substance or Method was pursuant to a valid TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemptions) or if USADA subsequently grants the Athlete a TUE for the substance or method in question.”