Conor McGregor handed 18-month ban for three missed drugs tests

Conor McGregor’s return to the octagon has been delayed once more after the former two-weight UFC champion accepted an 18-month suspension for violating the promotion’s anti-doping policy.

Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), the independent body that oversees testing, announced on Tuesday that McGregor had missed three attempted sample collections in 2024, triggering an automatic sanction under the UFC’s anti-doping programme.

The Irishman, 37, failed to provide samples on June 13, September 19 and September 20 last year, with all three incidents logged as whereabouts failures. Under UFC rules, athletes are required to provide accurate location details to allow unannounced testing.

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The suspension is backdated to September 20, 2024 – the date of his third missed test – and will run until March 20, 2026.

Ordinarily, three whereabouts failures would trigger a two-year suspension. However, CSAD said mitigating circumstances were taken into account. McGregor was recovering from injury and not in training camp during the period of missed collections, while he also fully cooperated with investigators and supplied supporting documentation. The sanction was therefore reduced by six months.

“Despite these mitigating factors, CSAD emphasises that accurate whereabouts filings and the ability to conduct unannounced testing are essential to the success of the UFC ADP,” the organisation said in its statement.

CSAD administers the UFC programme independently of the promotion, with Drug Free Sport International carrying out collections and Wada-accredited labs performing the analysis.

McGregor, who has not fought since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier in July 2021, returned to the testing pool in 2025 and has provided four samples since.

A highly anticipated bout against Michael Chandler, scheduled for UFC 303 last summer, was scrapped after McGregor pulled out injured.

McGregor has only fought in the UFC seven times since his spectacular 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo in December 2015, a victory that elevated him to superstar status.

The former featherweight and lightweight champion has lost four of those seven: once each to Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmagomedov, and twice to Poirier, the first a second-round TKO at UFC 257 in Abu Dhabi.

Since his last UFC appearance, McGregor has found himself embroiled in a host of controversies. In March 2022, McGregor was arrested in Dublin and charged with six driving offences, including two counts of dangerous driving, being uninsured, having no licence and failing to produce his documents.

He was given a two-year driving ban and a five-month suspended sentence, on condition that he keeps the peace for two years.

In January 2023, McGregor was accused of assaulting a 42-year-old woman aboard his yacht in Ibiza, Spain and he was also accused of sexually assaulting a woman after the NBA Finals game between Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets later that year.

A Dublin court found him guilty of raping Nikita Hand in November 2024 and he was ordered to pay €250,000 in damages.

His latest suspension means he cannot compete until spring next year at the earliest – just in time for the UFC’s headline-making card at the White House on June 14, 2026, an event announced by US President Donald Trump.

McGregor has repeatedly indicated he hopes to fight on the White House card, although UFC chief executive Dana White said on Saturday that no fighters have yet been signed.

“We have not started negotiating any fights for the White House yet,” White said after an event in Las Vegas. “You can clearly see Conor is very fired up to fight on that card, but nothing is done yet.”

For McGregor, the enforced lay-off stretches an absence from competition that will be nearing five years by the time he is eligible to fight again.

Whether “The Notorious” can summon one last comeback remains the most pressing question for the UFC and its biggest box-office draw.