McGregor Banned From Competing For 18 Months

JAKARTA Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has banned Conor McGregor from competing for 18 months for violating anti-doping rules.

Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), which is an internal agency that manages the UFC anti-doping program, on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, announced that McGregor was sanctioned for failing to submit a test sample according to applicable regulations.

"McGregor failed in three biological sampling efforts in a 12-month period in 2024, which is a violation of the UFC anti-doping policy," the CSAD statement said, quoted by MMA Fighting.

Contract-bound UFC athletes are required to always provide accurate location information so that they can be contacted and undergo biological sampling without any prior notification.

The sample tests that McGregor missed occurred on June 13, September 19, and September 20, 2024. This is classified as a location reporting failure or known as 'whereabouts failures'.

Although each missed test was counted as a foul for McGregor, CSAD officials noted that he was not competing with injury and was not preparing for the match when the samples were supposed to be collected.

"McGregor is fully cooperating with the CSAD investigation, accepting responsibility, and providing detailed information that CSAD says contributes to missed tests," the statement continued.

Although there are mitigating factors, CSAD emphasizes that accurate location reporting and the ability to perform sudden tests are essential for the success of the UFC program.

By considering McGregor's cooperation, CSAD also decided to reduce the standard 24-month sanctions for three location reporting failures to 18 months.

"The non-performance period of McGregor starts on September 20, 2024 (due to failure to report his third location) and will end on March 20, 2026," they said.

Thus, this sanction will not interfere with the plan to return the Irish fighter to the octagon, which is likely to occur at the UFC event of the White House on June 14, 2026.

McGregor has not fought since 2021 when he suffered a broken leg in the fight against Dustin Poirier. He was originally scheduled to return in 2024 to fight Michael Chandler, but had a broken toe injury.

After the President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced plans to hold a UFC event at the White House in 2026, McGregor immediately expressed his desire to fight at the event.