Chael Sonnen stakes his reputation on Conor McGregor being clean

It will be heartening for 'The Notorious' to hear he has a highly regarded UFC name backing him.

Conor McGregor and 'juicing'. The man and the term [for doping] were never in the same room together until Nate Diaz threw it out there in late February of this year. The accusation, that McGregor was taking performance enhancing drugs, drew a stinging response and a firm denial. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/702618536859066369 Still, the word was flung out there. Diaz' boxing coach made the claims in TV and radio interviews. Following McGregor's UFC 196 loss to Diaz, Jose Aldo bandied it around. One day soon, we may hear of a defamation lawsuit being filed. For now, McGregor has not lawyered up. Chael Sonnen likes to think he has his finger on the MMA pulse. The former UFC middleweight title contender is adamant in his belief that McGregor is a clean fighter. On his Beyond the Fight podcast, Sonnen said:

"First off, Conor's not on anything.  "I'm a guy that lived in that world. When a guy takes his t-shirt off, I can tell you exactly what he's taking. I can look at his traps, I can look at his pecs; his definition. I know what he has taken and how he got to look that way. "Conor's clean. He's got great genetics. He's got good DNA going through his system. He's just one of those guys that got lucky."

Sonnen dismisses all the talk of McGregor bulking up and still having defined muscle mass due to the fact that his walk around weight is 164 lbs. "There's nothing there," Sonnen said. He also backed Yoel Romero, who was pinged by the United States Anti Doping Association for taking an illegal supplement but recently downgraded to a six month suspension.