McGregor handed 18-month ban after missing three drug tests
The ban, which is retroactive to 20 September 2024, will run until 20 March 2026 — just three months before the UFC’s planned White House fight card on Donald Trump’s birthday, 14 June.
Conor McGregor has been handed an 18-month suspension by the UFC's anti-doping programme, Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), for three whereabouts failures.
The ban, which is retroactive to 20 September 2024, will run until 20 March 2026 — just three months before the UFC's planned White House fight card on Donald Trump's birthday, 14 June. McGregor has been campaigning to appear on that card, which would mark his first fight in almost five years.
CSAD said the former two-division champion failed to provide accurate location details and missed tests on 13 June, 19 September and 20 September 2024, constituting a breach of the UFC's anti-doping policy.
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The 13 June test coincided with the cancellation of McGregor's scheduled UFC 303 bout against Michael Chandler. CSAD acknowledged that McGregor was recovering from injury at the time and not preparing for competition.
"McGregor fully cooperated with the investigation, accepted responsibility, and provided detailed information explaining the missed tests," CSAD said in a statement, adding that his cooperation and circumstances led to a reduced suspension from the standard 24 months.
The Irishman remains in the UFC's testing pool and has submitted four samples in 2025. The suspension was announced a day after he declared an indefinite break from social media.
