Anthony Smith believes Conor McGregor’s response to his criticism only validated the point he was trying to make.
Smith recently questioned McGregor’s physique, which has increased dramatically in size since breaking his leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in their lightweight trilogy July 2021. McGregor (22-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) has not been tested by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in 2022 and isn’t currently in the program, which Smith finds sketchy. Smith’s implication that McGregor could be using performance-enhancing drugs enraged the former UFC dual champion, who fired back at Smith.
But Smith, who fractured his leg in a TKO loss to Magomed Ankalaev last July, just wants to understand USADA’s rules when it comes to pulling out of its program.
“If there’s something out there that could help me heal that I could do legally, I totally would, because I would heal a lot faster,” Smith said on Michael Bisping’s “Believe You Me” podcast. “But it’s not even his reasoning that I’m questioning.
“What bugs me is that guys like Anderson (Silva) and guys like Chris Weidman and myself have had lots of bad injuries, and we didn’t have the ability to just step out of the USADA pool, get yourself healed, and then come back with no repercussions.”
Smith said fighters usually leave the USADA testing pool when they’ve either parted ways with the UFC or retired. With neither being the case for McGregor, who is still part of the UFC lightweight rankings, Smith wonders how he was just able to exit the testing pool.
“Did he break any rules? You’re (Bisping) the one who played devil’s advocate. You said ‘technically’ he’s not breaking any rules,” Smith said. “That’s because different rules apply to him. I don’t have that capability, or at least I didn’t think.”
UFC president Dana White recently confirmed that McGregor would have to complete six months in the USADA testing pool before he’s eligible to compete again. McGregor recently tweeted that he will re-enter the program in February, which means he wouldn’t be able to return before August 2023.
