Conor McGregor has been sanctioned for failure to appear for a trio of drug tests last year.
Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), the company which has represented drug testing on UFC fighters since the beginning of 2024, announced Tuesday that McGregor has been handed an 18-month suspension for missing a trio of attempted testing sessions last year.
McGregor “failed to make himself available” on three separate dates (June 13, September 19 and September 20) in 2024 when Drug Free Sport International (DFSI) attempted to collect an out-of-competition test on the former world champion.
CSAD’s database shows that McGregor had 11 test sessions in 2024, and has done four in 2025 thus far.
Due to McGregor’s cooperation in an investigation into the missed tests, along with the mitigating factor that none of the failed appearances came during a fight camp, CSAD decided to reduce his two-year suspension by six months. Reduced time for violations due to cooperation is frequently seen in CSAD’s rulings.
All CSAD suspensions are retroactive to certain dates. For failed drug tests, the suspension begins on the date of the flagged test. In McGregor’s case, his 18-month “period of ineligibility” started on September 20, 2024, the most recent drug test he wasn’t available for.
This means McGregor won’t be allowed to appear on a UFC card until at least March 20, 2026.
This sanction doesn’t disrupt McGregor’s return plans, it seems. The 37-year-old has spent recent months angling for an appearance on UFC’s planned 2026 fight card at the White House in Washington, D.C., which is expected to go down on June 14.
McGregor recently said that he had been negotiating with the Trump administration for an appearance on the card. UFC’s Dana White shut down these claims recently, stating that no talks have started about who will appear on the card, which is still over half a year away.
An extended period of time away from competition isn’t anything new for McGregor, who hasn’t been seen inside an MMA cage since July 2021. The Irish fighter attempted a return in June 2024 against Michael Chandler, a fight both talents spent over a year promoting, although it was cancelled in the weeks leading up due to McGregor suffering a broken toe.
McGregor has remained in the public eye despite his absence from fighting in recent years. He is a part-owner in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) and appears at many of the promotion’s events.
McGregor also had a major focus on him late last year, when he was found liable in a civil lawsuit where Irish hairdresser Nikita Hand alleged he physically and sexually abused her in December 2018. He lost an appeal for the case in July.
