Dana White Refuses To Rule Out A McGregor Return Despite The USADA Guidelines

Dana White has given his take on whether Conor McGregor will fight in 2023. 

The ‘Notorious’ had announced his intention to make a comeback to the octagon, as Michael Chandler became the frontrunner as an opponent.

As of now, both are competing as coaches on ‘TUF’ 31. However, McGregor’s failure to enrol in USADA testing has left a dark cloud over the possibility of a fight. 

On June 16th, 2023, McGregor received a 48-hour ultimatum to join the USADA testing program if he wished to participate in UFC 296 this year.

Dana White: Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler ‘100 percent’ can happen in 2023 — ‘Who cares what USADA says’ | #TUF31 https://t.co/2NP6Ng75Om pic.twitter.com/pLPT9QJbQc

— MMA Mania (@mmamania) July 7, 2023

To be eligible for the fight, McGregor had to submit two negative samples before the six-month testing pool deadline.

And yet, there is a possibility that there could be an exemption around that. The last time that an exemption was granted was in 2016 for Brock Lesnar.

The latter faced Mark Hunt, but his victory was declared a no contest, as Lesner tested positive. And yet, White did not rule anything out. 

Dana White provides an update on McGregor vs. Chandler.

McGregor is still yet to re-enter the USADA pool, but is still holding out hope that the fight happens this year. pic.twitter.com/UEVugjEN9H

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) July 6, 2023

“He’s not [back in the USADA testing pool]. 100 percent [there’s a chance Conor McGregor fights this year].”

“The Conor thing, who the hell knows how that’s going to play out? Who cares what USADA says? We’ll see what happens when it happens, so I don’t know,” White said