UFC president Dana White says if Conor McGregor fights again in the promotion, it will be “sometime next year.”
Last month, an Irish jury found McGregor liable for assault in a civil rape case brought by Nikita Hand.
The Irishman was ordered to pay Ms Hand almost 250,000 euros (£206,000) in damages and her legal costs.
McGregor, who denied the allegations, has already said he will appeal.
When asked by reporters at a press conference after UFC 310 for his reaction to the outcome of the civil case, White responded, “If I had a comment, I would have made it public already.”
White was then asked to clarify McGregor’s position in the UFC.
“How long hasn’t he fought here? If he does fight, it will be sometime next year,” White added.
McGregor has not fought in the UFC since breaking his leg in the defeat to Dustin Poirier in 2021, while his comeback against Michael Chandler was canceled in June after the Irishman broke his toe.
The jury at the High Court in Dublin found that McGregor attacked Ms Hand in a Dublin hotel in December 2018.
Some journalists were asked by the UFC not to ask fellow countryman Ian Machado Garry questions about McGregor during the UFC 310 fight week.
The UFC said Machado Garry did not want to discuss the matter and would rather focus on his fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov, who won the Kazakh welterweight by unanimous decision.
Meanwhile, White was not seen at Thursday’s pre-fight press conference – an event he usually hosts – but took field questions at another press conference on Friday to promote UFC 311 in January. He wasn’t asked about McGregor.
Could the UFC ban McGregor from fighting?
In short, yes, the UFC could take action to ban McGregor from competing in the promotion.
The UFC’s Athlete Conduct Policy provides guidelines on the behavior the organization expects from its fighters.
It says athletes may not engage in conduct that would “reflect negatively on the athlete or the UFC or would bring it into disrepute, disparagement, scandal, ridicule or contempt.”
It adds that sanctions could be imposed on fighters who engage in misconduct, citing a number of examples including “violent, threatening or intimidating behavior, bullying, sexual assault, domestic violence, sexual harassment and other sexual misconduct.”
While the UFC has previously imposed sanctions on athletes for policy violations, examples are few and disciplinary actions are more often tied to the sport than to a fighter’s conduct outside the octagon.
Jon Jones was punished twice by the UFC in 2015, including a £19,500 fine for cocaine use, while he was later suspended and stripped of his light heavyweight title for his part in a hit-and-run incident.
One of the most recent times the UFC imposed sanctions was in December 2022, when it released Darrick Minner and warned fighters against training with coach James Krause after the pair allegedly violated betting rules, pending an investigation by Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC). .
The UFC later confirmed that fighter Jeff Molina had been suspended as part of the same investigation, which is still ongoing.
Meanwhile, McGregor has escaped punishment from the UFC several times over the years for behavior that may have violated UFC policy.
In 2018, McGregor injured several fighters by throwing a metal dolly into a bus. He was not punished by the UFC, but was sentenced to five days of community service by an American court.
Months later, McGregor was involved in a full-scale brawl in the octagon following the defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov. Once again, the UFC did not sanction the Irishman, but he was suspended for six months and fined by the NSAC.
Last year, White was not punished by the UFC after a video surfaced of him having a physical altercation with his wife, while numerous fighters have escaped sanctions for using homophobic slurs and being involved in brawls outside of fights.
No public action was taken against Jorge Masvidal when he punched British fighter Leon Edwards backstage at a 2019 event.
The UFC’s disciplinary process is essentially discretionary, and the promotion often leaves external issues to the authorities or state athletic commissions that oversee the events.
However, other major American sports regularly sanction athletes for actions outside the sport.
The NFL made sweeping changes to its personal conduct policy in 2021, including penalties for conduct outside of sports, including domestic violence and sexual assault.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson was suspended for 11 games in 2022 after numerous women accused him of sexual assault.
