MLB clears Dodgers team doctor Neal ElAttrache in investigation tied to Conor McGregor PED allegations

Major League Baseball has cleared Los Angeles Dodgers team doctor Neal ElAttrache after an MLB investigation determined there were no concerns tied to performance-enhancing drug use by UFC star Conor McGregor, according to CBS Sports. The review centered on ElAttrache’s role in McGregor’s medical care following broken bones in his legs and subsequent specialist treatment, a situation that brought the physician’s work into the league’s broader attention.

ElAttrache is widely known in sports medicine circles for his work as a team physician, and the Dodgers have employed him as part of their high-level medical and performance infrastructure. MLB’s decision, as reported by CBS Sports, indicates the league’s investigators did not find any issue with how ElAttrache handled the circumstances that surrounded McGregor’s care, even though the PED allegation created a thread of concern that required formal review.

CBS Sports reported that MLB investigators found they “did not have any concerns” regarding McGregor’s performance-enhancing drug use as it related to ElAttrache. That phrasing is important because it addresses the central question MLB was asked to evaluate: whether the Dodgers physician’s involvement in McGregor’s treatment connected in any material way to wrongdoing or procedural failures.

The investigation’s premise, per the same report, traces back to ElAttrache overseeing McGregor’s care after his leg injuries and sending him to a specialist who prescribed performance-enhancing drugs. While that medical pathway is central to the allegation that prompted MLB to look deeper, MLB’s eventual clearance suggests the league did not conclude that ElAttrache’s conduct, decisions, or oversight created a violation or concern within MLB’s purview.

For the Dodgers, the decision is primarily a reputational and compliance issue rather than a sporting one. Team physicians are a key component of MLB franchises’ health systems, and outcomes like this can affect how fans and media view a club’s medical culture, especially when the physician’s name intersects with high-profile celebrity combat sports.

It also matters in a broader sense for MLB’s handling of cross-sport medical issues. The league’s interest appears to be less about McGregor’s UFC career itself and more about ensuring that connections between MLB staff and externally treated athletes do not create compliance gaps or unaddressed concerns.

What to watch next is whether MLB’s clearance comes with any further public guidance about how it evaluates similar medical third-party relationships, and whether the Dodgers, ElAttrache, or MLB provide additional detail beyond the determination reported by CBS Sports. At this point, the available information supports the clearance, but it does not, in the public reporting referenced here, lay out a full account of the investigative process or the specifics of what MLB considered acceptable in the specialist-care portion of the situation.