Joe Rogan indicated the current version of Conor McGregor is not natural, but he doesn’t necessarily fault the former UFC champion.
On Saturday’s episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Rogan and fitness influencer Derek from More Plates, More Dates speculated about McGregor’s ability to return from a broken leg suffered at UFC 264. They also discussed the potential chemical enhancements that could speed up that process, namely banned substances that might put him in hot water with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
Rogan didn’t explicitly accuse McGregor of doping, but he made it pretty clear he thinks the Irish star has taken performance-enhancers. Either way, he said, McGregor has worked the UFC’s anti-doping system to his advantage.
“He’s taking his shirt off and posing constantly, and he looks like his piss would melt that USADA cup,” Rogan said. “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. Get out of the testing pool, you can just juice up. Seems weird, and you just need six months. If someone had an injury, though, that’s a very wise way to approach it.”
McGregor has fired back angrily at critics of his withdrawal from the USADA drug testing program, which came to light after it was reported that he hadn’t been tested by the agency this year. Responding to UFC vet Anthony Smith, who expressed anger that the ex-champ was simply able to withdraw from the program and then return, McGregor said “everything was fully disclosed before I began” and targeted a UFC return in February after two drug tests. That suggested a shorter timeline than the usual six months needed for athletes coming out of retirement; USADA and the UFC may grant exemptions to that window under extraordinary circumstances.
Rogan quizzed Derek on the best chemical options for recovering from such as injury as McGregor’s and cited previous guest David Goggins, an ultra-marathoner who had a plate inserted into his leg; McGregor also had his broken bones joined with a plate.
“[Human growth hormone], peptides, androgens are very restorative, like they’ll reinforce bone mineral density,” the influencer said. “It’s just muscle tissue for anabolics, too. Like, there’s certain stuff that’s going to stay in the system for a long time [that] he could never use.
“But on the bio-identical side, like, anything that is pro-bone integrity, infrastructure enforcing, like, I would be highly incentivized. If I was him and I knew I wasn’t being tested, I’d be pushing that vector hard if I was him. … There are other peptides that are not even tested for that I’m sure he’s probably using. But I imagine his main priority is injury-proofing himself rather than getting juicy as f***. … It’s a unique loophole for sure. It seems kind of odd that he was able to take himself out so purposely and then enter back in.”
“And looks massive,” Rogan replied. “He looks well over 200 pounds.”
McGregor recently completed filming in an Amazon remake of the cult movie hit “Road House.” He has targeted a welterweight title shot and been the subject of dozens of callouts. This past Saturday, his would-be UFC 196 opponent Rafael dos Anjos called to reboot their cancelled fight, and his three-time opponent Dustin Poirier briefly sparred with him online.
Despite all the bluster, Rogan questioned whether McGregor would ever be the same fighter again.
“His last big win was against Donald Cerrone, which was a significant win,” Rogan said. “I wonder, it could just be inactivity, too. The inactivity is probably one of the biggest factors in his demise, maybe even more so than just the silk sheets.
“He said that after the Dustin Poirier fight, when Dustin Poirier knocked him out, he said, ‘I just feel like inactivity is a problem.’ There’s a lot going on in a fight, and if you’re not accustomed to fighting at the high level, the stress of that moment is so overwhelming. Very, very difficult for guys to take years off and then jump back in and be 100 percent.”