While his critics are playing checkers, Ryan Garcia's playing chess.

The 140-pound menace-turned-suspended drug cheat pulled a competitive end-around when he insisted the one-year sentence imposed by the New York State Athletic Commission wouldn't apply to him because he'd simply step away from the board.

"I'm retiring for a year," he told TMZ. "So they don't get the [satisfaction] for suspending me cause it's bull. I never took steroids in my life. They can all suck weiners."

Behold the majesty of a defiant "King" refusing to cede his position.

Or something like that.

Anyway, the B/R combat team got in on the check-mating fun to suggest a few Octagonal options for Garcia should he choose to channel his game-playing energy while cooling his heels away from the ring.

Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the comments.

Sean O'Malley

Why not start at the beginning?

Garcia's most recent fight occurred in the 140-pound weight class—or at least near it given his failure to hit the contracted number—and Sean O'Malley's last appearance was at 135, when he defended his UFC bantamweight title against Marlon Vera in March.

But while Garcia has fought at a heavier weight, O'Malley is taller (5'11" to 5'8½") with a longer reach (72 inches to 70) and is known primarily in the MMA world for his ability to control fights with fundamental boxing skills and end them with concussive power.

And as Garcia told TMZ, O'Malley was one of a few high-profile athletes who didn't immediately chastise him as headlines surfaced of the failed a drug test, even though they'd taken several previous opportunities to deride one another via social media.

So now that "KingRy" has got some time to kill, nothing makes more sense.

Michael Chandler

Michael Chandler could use a break.

He arrived at Dana White's UFC doorstep three years ago after a long, successful run in the Bellator operation, but his climb to the top of the Octagonal mountain has been detoured by high-profile losses to Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier.

He's a company man through and through, though, and the czar's booking of him for a fight with the caged world's most popular attraction, Conor McGregor, was the sort of golden parachute reserved only for those who've achieved made-man status with the organization.

And then Conor, or at least the one we've seen lately, went Conor again.

So, what's a guy to do in the interim while the cash cow soothes a sore hoof?

How about taking on boxing's version of the "Notorious" one in a bout where the guys are of similar height (Garcia is 5'8½" to Chandler's 5'8"), have a similar reach (Chandler's is 71 inches, Garcia's is 70), and can likely find an agreeable weight given that Chandler fights at 155 pounds and Garcia walks around at or near 150.

C'mon Dana, it's the least you can do.

Conor McGregor

Then again, if you're going to the circus, why stop at the sideshow?

If Garcia is legitimately looking to make both a splash and a windfall while sitting on the boxing sidelines, who better to engage as a dance partner than McGregor himself?

As mentioned earlier, the Irishman's return from recent competitive irrelevance was cued up in the form of Michael Chandler before a toe injury mandated a late reshuffling at the top of this weekend's UFC 303 card in Las Vegas.

Still, unless McGregor decides he's finished chasing bags in rings or cages, he'll eventually be back on the hunt for a big event. And there's not much bigger than a high-profile crossover, which he already proved when he rode shotgun to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the 2017 extravaganza that drew more than four million pay-per-view buys.

Team "Notorious" stoked the rivalry fire by suggesting Garcia get a lifetime ban for his failed drug test, which was all the fodder his target needed to fire back on X and accuse McGregor of ducking out of the Chandler fights because of his own testing concerns.

Logan Paul

Remember the old days?

When one kid would challenge another to duke it out behind the mall after school, or if we're talking adult professional fighters, the camps would work out the logistics and get it done.

Seems like a thousand years ago when it comes to Ryan Garcia and Logan Paul.

Instead of simply toeing the line and sorting out their differences via competitive combat, the 20-something millionaires have engaged in a flurry of social media taunts, filed lawsuits and repetitive promises of bodily harm should they ever be in close enough proximity.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to 21st century fight promotion.

The two actually shared cordial ring space when Garcia helped Paul train for an exhibition with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2021, but he's since turned those sessions into ammunition, claiming the much larger Paul was unable to hurt him despite standing more than five inches taller (6'2" to 5'8½") and possessing a similar edge in reach (76 inches to 70).

"I will destroy Logan Paul," he said. "I've already sparred him [and] he didn't hurt me once. He was way bigger than me, and I was whooping his ass."