"USADA was mired in all kinds of holes" - Ariel Helwani on Conor McGregor not being tested, says 'goalposts were moved' for Jon Jones, Brock Lesnar
Conor McGregor found himself caught up in yet another controversy after word got out that he hasn't been tested by USADA this year.
After some fans pointed it out a few weeks ago, MMA journalist Aaron Bronsteter reported in detail on the matter.
Check out the tweet below:
After cross-referencing the entire active UFC roster with USADA's athlete test history database, I found that Conor McGregor was the lone active fighter, (aside from some athletes who signed after Aug. 1) to not be tested by USADA.
tsn.ca/ufc-star-conor…
USADA provided a somewhat vague statement addressing the matter that said "the UFC may grant an exemption" to the rule that compels athletes to remain active in the testing pool for six months before competing.
McGregor's team and the UFC declined comment.
USADA provided TSN with the following statement: https://t.co/7iNSS6BwXU
During the latest episode of The MMA Hour, Ariel Helwani was asked to comment on the matter by one of the fans who sent in their questions for the 'On the Nose' segment.
Helwani shared that in his observation, the anti-doping agency mostly acted in a grey area, giving ample elbow room to superstars such as Brock Lesnar and Jon Jones:
"Definitely seems dicey... I would love to get an explanation as to why this is... Not a great look. But I have felt from the beginning that USADA was mired in all kinds of holes, if you will, and it felt like the goalposts were always being moved - whether it was for Brock [Lesnar], whether it was for Jon Jones."
Helwani also pointed out that far fewer fights are canceled nowadays owing to USADA violations compared to the early days when the agency took over:
"When's the last event that was affected by USADA suspension? We saw a bunch of them at the beginning. When's the last time that happened? Isn't that a little weird? Who's the last big name that we saw got popped? Is everyone just clean all of a sudden? Have a hard time believing that."
Watch Helwani's comments from the 48:08 mark in the video below:
"He's on that privileged list" - Henry Cejudo on USADA not testing Conor McGregor
Henry Cejudo, who often breaks down the Irishman's training videos for fun, was taken by surprise when a fan asked him to comment on the matter. He asked his production team if the news was true that Conor McGregor hadn't been tested since his legbreak.
Upon verification, Cejudo said that he was certain McGregor was using Performance enhacing drugs (PEDs):
"He's on that privileged list. That's crazy. Those are the things to bring up. That's crazy. But 'roids are not gonna help Conor. Of course he's on that sh*t... but they ain't gonna help him. That dude needs to stay away from coke, that's what he needs to do."
Watch Cejudo's comments from 8:50 mark below:
On paper, Conor McGregor has never failed a USADA test. However, he has been accused of taking drugs by a number of entities within the MMA community, as well as fans. Comments suggesting he uses cocaine and other narcotics under McGregor's social media posts are a regular occurrence nowadays.
Fellow fighters such as Jorge Masvidal, Jim Miller, Paulie Malignaggi, and UFC commentator Joe Rogan have previously hinted at Conor McGregor's drug usage.