Former MMA fighter Chael Sonnen weighs in on Conor McGregor‘s feud with USADA, stating that McGregor will not be able to bypass their testing and that USADA should be careful not to go head-to-head with the sport’s biggest star.
Former MMA fighter Chael Sonnen recently shared his thoughts on the ongoing online feud between Conor McGregor and the UFC’s anti-doping agency, USADA. McGregor implied that he had something in the works with USADA to bypass the six-month testing period before his return to the cage. USADA was quick to refute McGregor’s claim, which led to the Irishman attacking USADA by saying that they made him look like a liar.
Chael believes that if McGregor thinks he can compete in the UFC without testing through USADA, he’s kidding himself. USADA holds a $10.4 million contract with the UFC to test athletes for 365 days until the deal’s expiry, making it impossible for McGregor to bypass the anti-doping agency’s jurisdiction to fight anywhere. Sonnen is also of the belief that McGregor lied about having a one-off deal with the USADA.
The former MMA fighter also expressed that he is not upset if McGregor was indeed lying and that “he’s got the right to tell his story.” Sonnen cautioned USADA about the danger of going head to head with “the sport’s biggest star,” as they would eventually need to deal with other people like himself who would say that “they’ve never helped anybody.”
While Chael doesn’t believe McGregor will get away without USADA, he sees an unfortunate ending for the agency as well. He said, “The first step and the first swing to this fight have been thrown, and it’s been thrown by the sport’s biggest star. Biggest star came out and told them they better quit speaking up. The biggest star came out and said, you’re making me look like a liar, and I’m not. They have a history of responding, but they didn’t respond to that.”