Ahead of their scheduled fight at UFC 296, Michael Chandler has used Conor McGregor‘s famous insult, “Who the f*** is that guy,” to taunt the UFC star. McGregor’s return to the UFC is slated to be against Chandler, but there are concerns that the fight may not take place this year due to uncertainty surrounding McGregor’s status in the USADA testing pool.
All UFC fighters are required to undergo a minimum of six months of mandatory drug testing before they can compete. McGregor has not yet submitted a sample to USADA, but there is a possibility that he could still be eligible for the UFC 296 event. The six-month window opens on the date of re-enrollment, not the submission of the first test sample.
In the past, McGregor has suggested that he could use the defense of “exceptional circumstances” to bypass the mandatory six-month testing period by submitting two clean tests. However, USADA has stated that McGregor should be in the testing pool for the full six-month period, and they do not support such exceptions unless the strict application of the rule would be manifestly unfair to the athlete.
Meanwhile, top-ranked lightweight Arman Tsarukyan has called out Michael Chandler, indicating that he believes McGregor’s fight with Chandler is unlikely to happen at the end of the year. Tsarukyan sees himself as a potential opponent for Chandler and believes that a fight between the new generation and the older generation would be exciting for fans.
The situation surrounding McGregor’s eligibility and the potential outcome of the fight between Chandler and McGregor remains uncertain at this time.