Anthony Smith responds to Conor McGregor's angry Twitter rant over comments on the Irishman's potential PED usage 

Anthony Smith has responded to Conor McGregor's Twitter rant that questioned whether the Irishman was using steroids after being absent from the USADA testing pool for the past year.

It was recently reported that the last time McGregor was tested by USADA was in the third quarter of 2021, and since then, has not been tested for PEDs. Paired with him looking bulky in his social media posts, this has led to allegations that he has been avoiding drug tests in order to recover faster.

A few days ago, Smith expressed that he was bothered to see USADA not test McGregor, all while seeing him get “jacked as sh*t.” The Irishman did not take kindly to Smith seemingly implying that McGregor was using steroids and fired back with a series of angry tweets.

'Lionheart' has now delivered his response to McGregor's Twitter outrage. Speaking to Michael Bisping on the Believe You Me podcast, Smith pointed out the differential treatment meted out to McGregor. He stated:

"What bothers me is that guys like Anderson [Silva], Chris Weidman and myself have had bad injuries and we did not have the ability to just step out of the USADA pool, get ourselves healed and come back with no reprucussions... Did he break any rules?... You [Michael Bisping] said, 'technically he's not breaking any rules.' That's because different rules apply to him. I don't have that capability."

Catch Anthony Smith's full podcast episode with Michael Bisping below:

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How soon could Conor McGregor return to the UFC octagon?

Conor McGregor recently stated that he will be cleared for USADA testing in February and will book his next UFC fight soon.

However, the anti-doping agency has given the Irishman some bad news. USADA has stated that 'The Notorious' will need to be in the testing pool for six months unless he gains an unlikely exception.

UFC President Dana White also previously confirmed in an interview that 'The Notorious' will not be able to return to active participation until those six months are complete.

Conor McGregor has been out of MMA action since suffering a brutal leg fracture at UFC 264 against Dustin Poirier back in 2021. The Irish superstar broke his left fibula and tibia during his fight and since then has undergone surgery and extensive rehabilitation.

However, there seem to be positive signs regarding Conor McGregor's return. With eager opponents like Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira calling him out, it is also possible that 'The Notorious' will move up to welterweight. Considering he enters the USADA pool in February, it is safe to assume he will be eligible to compete only around August-September.