UFC star Conor McGregor used performance-enhancing drugs after breaking his leg in a July 2021 bout, sources told Michael S. Schmidt of The New York Times.
McGregor did so with the support of prominent sports doctor Neal ElAttrache, the head physician for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Rams.
McGregor is returning to the Octagon for the first time in five years at UFC 329 on July 11 in Las Vegas. He's scheduled to face Max Holloway in a rematch in the welterweight division.
The former two-division champion hasn't competed since breaking his leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, also in Las Vegas.
ElAttrache, who oversaw the surgery to repair McGregor's leg, told Schmidt via text that he referred McGregor to specialists in bone healing following the operation. He said he later wrote a letter supporting McGregor's application for a therapeutic use exemption, which permits athletes to use banned drugs for medical reasons. ElAttrache said he backed the use of the drugs because of science but declined to cite research supporting their use to heal a bone fracture.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which oversaw the UFC's drug-testing program at the time, didn't grant the exemption. McGregor dropped out of the UFC's drug-testing pool and didn't re-enter it until October 8, 2023.
In order to re-enter the pool, McGregor had to disclose whether he'd taken any banned substances during his absence. Under USADA rules, athletes who disclose that information can't be sanctioned if they subsequently test positive for those drugs. During that process, officials discovered McGregor had used banned substances while not in the pool, sources told Schmidt.
USADA rules require fighters to be in the pool for six months before fighting. At the time, the UFC was hoping to book a bout for McGregor by the end of the calendar year. The same day McGregor re-entered the pool, the UFC told USADA that it wouldn't renew its contract with the agency when it expired Dec. 31, 2023. An in-house agency, Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), took over administering the UFC's anti-doping program in 2024.
McGregor's manager, Audie Attar, didn't say whether or not McGregor used PEDs. Attar said McGregor withdrew from the pool "to focus fully on his recovery" alongside "his team of world-renowned physicians."
UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell said McGregor "maintained proper communication with our team" throughout his time away from the Octagon and remained "in full compliance with the rules of our comprehensive drug program."
Last October, CSAD suspended McGregor 18 months for missing three drug tests. The suspension was retroactive to September 2024 and ended in March.
