Anthony Smith claims the rules do not apply to Conor McGregor.
Anthony Smith has responded to Conor McGregor after being labeled a ‘rat’ who is secretly rooting for ‘The Notorious’ to stay injured.
McGregor’s comments came after Smith suggested that he was using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to recover from his broken leg TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, questioning why USADA hadn’t tested the Irishman since his injury.
Smith also raised concerns about McGregor’s newfound physique, hinting that the former champ-champ used PEDs to bulk up during his hiatus.
‘Lionheart’ later clarified what he meant during a recent episode of Believe You Me, telling co-host Michael Bisping that McGregor gets unfair treatment from USADA and possibly the UFC.
“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, who suffered a broken leg at UFC 277, said (h/t MMA Junkie). “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,” he added.
“Did he break any rules? You’re [Bisping] the one who played devil’s advocate. You said ‘technically’ he’s not breaking any rules. That’s because different rules apply to him. I don’t have that capability, or at least I didn’t think.”
USADA has stated that McGregor would need to complete six months of mandatory testing before he is eligible to compete again. The UFC superstar is expected to return to the Octagon sometime next year, possibly at welterweight. He has never failed a drug test in his career.