McGregor claps back at Rogan in steroids row
Former UFC champion Conor McGregor has fired back at podcaster and UFC commentator Joe Rogan after he suggested that the Irishman’s muscular frame has been enhanced by the use of steroids.
McGregor has been out of action since badly breaking his left leg during a fight with Dustin Poirier in the summer of 2021. He subsequently dropped out of the USADA testing pool, the system employed by the UFC to oversee matters involving drug-testing, leading to speculation that McGregor has been using prohibited substances.
Recent photos posted online by McGregor appear to suggest that his physique has grown substantially during his absence from the cage, leading Rogan to suggest that there may have been some ulterior motives at hand.
“He’s taking his shirt off and posing constantly, and he looks like his p*ss would melt that USADA cup,” Rogan said on a recent episode of his podcast.
“Like, it would just like burn a hole right through the bottom of that USADA cup. The weird thing is that there is a loophole in USADA that allows you to get out of the testing pool. You can get out of the testing pool and just juice up.”
McGregor, though, took umbrage at the remarks and posted to social media images of Rogan at the age of 25 and 52, which show off his own muscular frame, suggesting that Rogan has received some artificial enhancement over the years.
Rogan has spoken about undergoing testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), something which was previously allowed among UFC competitors before being banned ahead of the USADA era.
Performance enhancing drugs are not illegal outside of athletic competition.
“Joe looks like his p*ss melts his knickers,” McGregor wrote in a tweet which has since been deleted.
“In the company that long and never took a fight hahaha @ufc oh tae kwon do competition, call the cops hahahahaah.”
McGregor, 34, stated in a separate social media post that he has taken various therapeutic steps to aid the healing of his broken tibia.
This has led to a wave of criticism from UFC fighters such as Anthony Smith and Cub Swanson, who suggest that it is a smokescreen to afford him free reign to take performance enhancers while on the sidelines of the sport.
The Dubliner could be required to submit six months of USADA tests before being eligible to compete in the UFC, with a summer return to action being thought the most likely outcome.
McGregor is 1-3 in his past four fights and has not won a fight since a January 2020 knockout of Donald Cerrone.
