One month ahead of Conor McGregor’s return to The Octagon, The New York Times published a report alleging that McGregor took “powerful, banned drugs” during his recovery from the broken tibia and fibula he suffered against Dustin Poirier in July 2021 — and that his surgeon applied for a therapeutic use exemption on his behalf that was never granted.
McGregor’s surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache referred McGregor to bone healing specialists and wrote a letter supporting the exemption application. ElAttrache defended his involvement.
“You are acting as if ‘banned drugs’ are somehow ‘illegal drugs’ or that they have no legitimate therapeutic use and only have performance enhancement use. There are many ‘banned drugs’ on the list which are necessary to medically treat various conditions. That is why a therapeutic use exemption application exists,” ElAttrache
McGregor left the USADA testing pool in 2022, with manager Audie Attar saying he did so to focus on his recovery under the supervision of “world-renowned physicians.” McGregor did not return until late 2023 ahead of a planned June 2024 comeback against Michael Chandler that ultimately fell through after he broke his pinkie toe.
Conor missed two further tests in September 2024, which led to an 18-month suspension, backdated to September 2024 and concluded in March. During the period he was outside the testing pool, McGregor was filming “Roadhouse” alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and was reported to weigh between 190 and 210 pounds. McGregor returns at welterweight on July 11 against Max Holloway in their rematch at UFC 329.