Conor McGregor will not be eligible to fight Michael Chandler until at least mid-September after USADA insisted he will not be exempt from their drug-testing rules.
Former two-weight UFC champion McGregor has not been tested for over a year as he recovered from the broken leg he suffered in his defeat by Dustin Poirier. The Irishman will return to the cage later this year to take on Chandler but no date has been set for the showdown.
But he will first have to be tested for six months by USADA, despite claiming he was confident he would be handed an exemption as he targeted a return to action in late summer. A statement from USADA read: "While we meet with all athletes who enter or re-enter the testing pool, we do not currently have a meeting set with Conor and, as of today, we have not received notice of his coming out of retirement to compete.
