Neal ElAttrache explains pointing Conor McGregor to steroid specialist
Neal ElAttrache, head team physician for the Dodgers and Rams, was interviewed by Major League Baseball investigators on Friday. a detailed report The New York Times wrote that the famous surgeon and sports medicine specialist supports the therapeutic use of performance-enhancing drugs by UFC star Conor McGregor.
MLB has met with ElAttrache, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment publicly. The league deemed the interview to be informational and not an investigation. The NFL, Rams and Dodgers declined to comment.
“I have spoken with the MLB, and I am very pleased with the process that the league and I will complete to reassure the public that I am following every rule and regulation, without exception, in the medical treatment of athletes,” ElAttrache said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. “My record is completely clean, including this case. I will leave it to MLB officials to comment further if they deem appropriate.”
ElAttrache operated on McGregor in July 2021, inserting a rod, plates and screws into his left leg after the fighter broke his tibia and fibula during a bout against Dustin Poirier in Las Vegas.
McGregor’s recovery was long and difficult. ElAttrache told the New York Times that he did not prescribe McGregor steroids but referred him to a specialist who did. Additionally, ElAttrache wrote a letter supporting McGregor’s request for a therapeutic use exemption from UFC drug policies.
“I thought it would be appropriate to consult with other doctors who have expertise in bone healing/bone metabolism,” ElAttrache told the paper via text. “I recommended consultations, but not the course of treatment.”
ElAttrache said he told McGregor to consult with UFC drug testers about the prescriptions the consultant gave him. “I was not knowingly involved in the evaluation by the consultant or the prescription of medication,” ElAttrache said.
The exemption request was denied by USADA (the drug testing agency the UFC used at the time), triggering a split between the two organizations. McGregor was soon withdrawn from the UFC anti-doping program and no longer required to be tested for banned substances.
ElAttrache operates primarily abroad Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic In Los Angeles, he performed elbow or shoulder surgeries on such prominent current and former Dodgers as Shohei Ohtani, Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin and Walker Buehler, as well as former Rams stars Cooper Kupp and Cam Akers.
Among the hundreds of surgeries performed by ElAttrache over three decades, his patients included four 2024 MLB Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award winners: Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Chris Sale and Tarik Skubal. ElAttrache’s patients include 18 of the 29 players who have won MVP or Cy Young awards in the past 10 years.
Other notable athletes who have become his patients include former Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and star NFL quarterbacks Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Joe Burrow.
Long before ElAttrache became a famous surgeon and team doctor, he was a boxer. He attended Notre Dame, where organized boxing was first introduced as a conditioning program by Knute Rockne in the 1930s. An intramural tournament known as the Bengal Matches was created, and decades later ElAttrache became a champion by winning the 185-pound division in 1978.
Before world lightweight boxing champion Vasiliy Lomachenko returned from shoulder surgery to defend his title in 2019, ElAttrache advised him not to use his left hook because he was not mentally ready.
“Once the arm gets into that position, the brain remembers the position where the dislocation occurred,” ElAttrache told the Los Angeles Times at the time. “It takes time to overcome this anxiety.”
It took McGregor five years to return to the octagon since his injury. He is scheduled to do so on July 11 in a heavyweight bout against Max Holloway at UFC 329 in Las Vegas as the main event of International Fight Week.
Almost a year after his injury, his recovery and astounding physical transformation has become a frequent topic of conversation on social media. Fellow UFC fighter Anthony Smith said the following about Michael Bisping: “Believe Me” podcast In November 2022, the reason for McGregor’s withdrawal from the UFC drug testing pool was clear.
“There’s only one reason you do this,” Smith said. “He looks so nervous… You keep seeing videos of him flexing and screaming in front of mirrors and he’s huge. He healed really fast. Really fast.”
Podcast host Joe Rogan pointed out McGregor’s impressive physique and gaps in USADA testing on his show in December 2022.
ElAttrache told the New York Times that he stopped treating McGregor after directing the fighter to someone who could obtain banned substances.
“I was not knowingly involved in the evaluation by the consultant or the prescription of medication,” ElAttrache told the Times. He said “expert opinions” could help McGregor and “optimize his chances of a solid union and healing of his fractures.”
But his quest for an exemption was seen by USADA and some UFC officials as McGregor trying to find a way to use banned drugs. McGregor re-entered the drug testing pool on October 8, 2023, the same day the UFC notified USADA that it would end the partnership.
The mixed martial arts community reacted to the New York Times investigation with a lockdown, as McGregor had long been suspected of taking banned substances to revive his career.
“Okay, now it’s confirmed,” said Conner Burks, co-host of the popular MMA podcast “The Boys in the Back.” “None of this was a huge shock to me.”
“It seemed like the worst kept secret in combat sports,” host Eric Jackman said.
In a written response to a question posed by the New York Times, McGregor’s manager Audie Attar did not say whether McGregor used banned substances. “Even with surgery there was a risk that Conor would not be able to walk again, he would likely face numerous side effects that would limit his mobility for life, and there would be serious doubts that he would ever return to the octagon.”
Attar said McGregor withdrew from the UFC drug testing pool “to focus on his full recovery” under the care of his “team of world-renowned doctors.”
“They managed a combination of horrific surgery, intense physical therapy, and appropriately prescribed medications,” Attar said. “The alleged disclosure of my client’s personal medical records is an unconscionable violation of the protection of health and privacy.”
McGregor attempted to return to fighting in June 2024, but a scheduled bout against Michael Chandler was canceled due to McGregor breaking his toe during training.
Combat Sports Anti-Doping officials were unable to locate McGregor for testing on the day the fight was canceled, and McGregor missed testing on two subsequent occasions. Under the UFC’s Location Policy, three failures constituted an anti-doping violation equivalent to a failed doping test.
The UFC suspended McGregor for 18 months in October 2025 due to testing violations. The suspension expired in June, allowing him to compete.
Times writers Bill Shaikin, Sam Farmer and Gary Klein contributed to this report.
