Conor McGregor Suspended for Non-Compliance with Anti-Doping Tests
The renowned mixed martial arts fighter, Conor McGregor, has been suspended for 18 months by the UFC’s anti-doping program, Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD). The suspension, which began on September 20, 2024, will end on March 20, 2026. This sanction comes after three “whereabouts failures” in which McGregor did not show up for doping tests. These failures occurred on June 13, September 19, and September 20, 2024.The internal agency that manages the UFC’s anti-doping program, CSAD, explained that athletes must provide accurate whereabouts information to facilitate no-notice testing. In this case, McGregor did not meet this requirement. On June 13, the day one of the failures occurred, UFC CEO Dana White announced the cancellation of the scheduled fight between McGregor and Michael Chandler at UFC 303. CSAD noted that although McGregor was not available for testing, he was recovering from an injury and not preparing for a fight at the time of the failures. Nevertheless, CSAD considered McGregor’s cooperation in the investigation, as well as the mitigating circumstances, and reduced the standard 24-month sanction to 18 months. McGregor has fully cooperated with the investigation, accepting responsibility and providing detailed information. McGregor’s suspension coincides with his announcement of an indefinite break from social media, made via X. Currently, the former two-division champion is in the UFC’s drug testing pool and has submitted four samples in 2025.“McGregor failed to appear for three attempts to collect biological samples within a 12-month period in 2024, which constitutes a violation of the UFC ADP,” according to a CSAD press release on the UFC website.
CSAD
