Conor McGregor’s return to combat sports has taken another twist.

On Tuesday, UFC announced that the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion has been suspended for 18 months after violating the whereabouts policy under the promotion’s anti-doping program. Through Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), McGregor missed three testing samples within a 12-month window on the dates of June 13, Sept. 19 and Sept. 20, 2024.

McGregor, 37, was initially set to be suspended for 24 months until further cooperation prompted a reduction down to 18 months, UFC stated. His suspension is retroactive to the date of his final missed test, meaning he won’t be eligible to return to competition until March 20, 2026.

Per the UFC:

Although McGregor failed to make himself available for testing on those 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. McGregor fully cooperated with CSAD’s investigation, accepted responsibility, and provided detailed information that CSAD determined contributed to the missed tests.

Despite these mitigating factors, CSAD emphasizes that accurate whereabouts filings and the ability to conduct unannounced testing are essential to the success of the UFC ADP. Taking McGregor’s cooperation and circumstances into account, CSAD reduced the standard 24-month sanction for three whereabouts failures by six months.

The Irishman has claimed in recent appearances that his return to competition is a “done deal” for the UFC’s upcoming planned White House card, which U.S. President Donald Trump announced will take place in June 2026. However, UFC CEO Dana White was quick to push back on McGregor’s claims this past weekend at UFC 320. Speaking to the media backstage, White noted that he’s aware of McGregor’s interest in being part of the card, but ultimately said there are no fights made or in the works as of now.

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Given the end date of his suspension, McGregor is still expected to be eligible to compete on the White House card.

While McGregor has been sidelined since his July 2021 trilogy loss to Dustin Poirier, he was previously scheduled to return against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June 2024. White announced McGregor’s withdrawal from the matchup on June 13 due to a broken pinky toe — the same day of his first missed drug test. That fight has yet to come to fruition, as Chandler has gone on to lose bouts against Paddy Pimblett and Charles Oliveira since.

During his time away from the Octagon, McGregor has focused on promoting BKFC, of which he’s a part-owner. McGregor has also been continuously embroiled in legal troubles, most notably a sexual assault case from 2018, in which he was found liable.