Dustin Poirier blasts Conor McGregor for sidestepping USADA

When asked about his thoughts about Conor McGregor’s tweets following his loss to Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier went off on the UFC superstar. His response was similar retort to what Gaethje said about McGregor, following a mass tirade of Tweets that McGregor unloaded Saturday night into Sunday.

“Dude, he needs to pass a drug test. That’s what he needs to do. Yeah, he needs to pass a drug test,” Poirier said on The MMA Hour.

“And if we change the rules for him to compete to sell some pay per views, I mean, we make a whole mockery of all this we put in place. But they’re the judge and the jury, so they do what they want to do. So we’ll see.”

What has the UFC has done to curb doping by its athletes?

The UFC, in response to an epidemic of failed drug tests after athletes fought, tried to be proactive. In 2015, they hired Jeff Novitzky, one of the key players in outing shamed U.S. cyclist and seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong for doping during his cycling career.

They also entered into an agreement with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in what was the first independent anti-doping program in U.S. professional sports.

UFC fights being overturned because of doping infractions has dramatically decreased since. But McGregor has been out of the program since he started treatment and rehabilitation for a 2021 injury.

He has been slated to face fellow The Ultimate Fighter coach Michael Chandler, but has yet to re-enter the testing protocols. He is required by the drug testing protocols to be subject to testing with clean results for at least six months prior to returning to the cage.

Dustin Poirier thinks Conor McGregor should not be an exception to USADA drug testing requirements

Lots of fighters want to compete against McGregor, largely because a fight with the superstar comes with a white hot spotlight that can amplify an athlete’s career, as well as an inflated payday.

But McGregor has lost three of his last four bouts. His most recent win was over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in 2020. So fighters that have achieved the level of success to be considered as a McGregor opponent are starting to call him out on his avoidance of the USADA protocols. That includes Gaethje and Poirier.

“Dude, he needs to pass a drug test. That’s what he needs to do,” Poirier declared.

Justin Gaethje, at UFC 291, accused Conor McGregor of steroid use

Gaethje, following his UFC 291 victory over Poirier, was also critical of McGregor, accusing him of steroid use and cheating. He was also dismissive of a potential fight with McGregor.