McGregor accepts UFC anti-doping sanction that ends March 2026

Conor McGregor has accepted an 18-month period of ineligibility for a violation of the UFC's anti-doping policy, the promotion announced Tuesday.

The former UFC champion's suspension began Sept. 20, 2024, and will conclude March 20, 2026, giving him enough time to potentially fight during the UFC event at the White House.

McGregor's suspension stems from three missed biological sample collection attempts within a 12-month period in 2024. The missed tests, classified as Combat Sports Anti-Doping's (CSAD) whereabouts failures, took place June 13, Sept. 19, and Sept. 20.

The 37-year-old was recovering from an injury and wasn't preparing for a fight during that period. CSAD says McGregor helped with the investigation and took responsibility for being unavailable for testing on those dates.

The standard CSAD punishment for three whereabouts failures is a 24-month sanction. However, McGregor's ban was reduced by six months after CSAD took his "cooperation and circumstances" into consideration.

McGregor hasn't fought since suffering a second consecutive loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. He recently said he'll fight Michael Chandler on the upcoming White House card.

President Donald Trump said Monday that the highly anticipated event will take place June 14, the date of his 80th birthday.