Conor McGregor has been handed an 18-month suspension from the UFC for violating anti-doping rules, the company confirmed on Tuesday.
Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), the UFC’s anti-doping enforcement body, said that the 37-year-old Irish fighter missed three attempted biological sample collections period in 2024 — on June 13, September 19, and September 20.
The 18-month period of ineligibility from competing in UFC for a violation of the company’s anti-doping policy is backdated to commence on September 20, 2024, and will expire on March 20, 2026.
UFC rules ensure its competitors must provide information of their whereabouts at all times in order for them to be contacted for biological sample collections to comply with its anti-doping policy.
The sanction was reduced from the standard 24-month suspension for such a breach of policy to 18 months after “taking McGregor’s cooperation and circumstances into account”, a statement said.
The Dublin-born fighter has been recovering from injury and was not preparing for any fights at the times of the missed tests. He has not competed since suffering a broken leg in defeat against Dustin Poirier in July 2021.
A UFC statement said McGregor “fully cooperated with CSAD’s investigation, accepted responsibility, and provided detailed information that CSAD determined contributed to the missed tests.”
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump said that the UFC would stage a live event at the White House on June 14, 2026, coinciding with his 80th birthday.
McGregor has claimed that he will be taking part in the event and that his fight against Michael Chandler is “signed”, but such claims have been denied by UFC president Dana White — a friend of Trump
“I made it clear that Conor wants to fight on that card, and you can clearly see Conor is very fired-up to fight on that card, but nothing is done yet,” White said on Saturday. “No fights are being negotiated with the White House.”
In November, a woman who accused McGregor of raping her in a Dublin hotel room in December 2018 won a civil claim at Ireland’s high court for damages against him.
McGregor was ordered to pay €248,000 ($257,000, £206,000) to his accuser. He denied the accusations and said at the time that he would appeal.
In a separate incident in January, the fighter was sued for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in 2023 after an NBA Finals game. The lawsuit came nearly two years after McGregor was first accused by the woman of sexually assaulting her in a bathroom at the Kaseya Center after Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets, which took place on June 9.
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