Conor McGregor suspended 18 months by UFC for missed tests

Conor McGregor received an 18-month suspension from the UFC Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD) program on Tuesday.

His suspension will end on March 20, 2026, just over three months before the UFC White House fight card that President Donald Trump announced for his June 14 birthday. McGregor has campaigned extensively to be included on the card, which would be his first fight in almost five years.

CSAD, the internal agency that manages the UFC’s anti-doping program, announced the suspension was for three “failures” in which McGregor missed tests on June 13, September 19 and September 20, 2024, and did not provide specific information regarding his location.

“McGregor failed three attempts to collect biological samples within a 12-month period in 2024, which constitutes a violation of the UFC ADP,” reads a CSAD press release on the UFC website. “UFC athletes are required to provide accurate information at all times, so that they may be contacted and submit to biospecimen collections without prior warning. McGregor’s missed tests took place on June 13, September 19, and September 20, 2024, and were each classified as failures where CSAD by CSAD under the UFC ADP.”

The missed test on June 13 was the same day that UFC CEO Dana White announced that McGregor’s planned fight with Michael Chandler at UFC 303 had been canceled. Although McGregor didn’t make it known, CSAD noted that he was dealing with an injury and was not preparing to fight when the samples were supposed to be taken.

“Although McGregor did not make himself available for testing on these dates, CSAD noted that he was recovering from an injury and was not preparing for an upcoming fight at the time of the three missed tests,” CSAD wrote in a statement Tuesday. “McGregor fully cooperated with CSAD’s investigation, accepted responsibility, and provided detailed information that CSAD determined contributed to the missed tests.

“Taking into account McGregor’s cooperation and circumstances, CSAD reduced the standard penalty of 24 months for three whereabouts failures by six months. His period of ineligibility began on September 20, 2024 (the date of his third helmet failure) and will end on March 20, 2026.”

The suspension comes a day after McGregor announced on X that he would be taking an indefinite hiatus from social media. The former two-division champion is currently in the UFC’s drug testing pool, with four samples submitted in 2025.