UFC President Dana White has said that if Conor McGregor is to fight again for the promotion, “it will be sometime next year.”
Last month, an Irish jury found McGregor liable for assault in Nikita Hand’s civil rape case.
The Irishman was ordered to pay Ms Hand nearly €250,000 (£206,000) in damages and her legal costs.
McGregor, who has denied the allegations, has already said he will appeal.
When asked by reporters at the post-UFC 310 press conference about his reaction to the outcome of the civil case, White replied, “If I had a comment, I would have made it public by now.”
White was then asked to clarify McGregor’s position in the UFC.
“How long has he not fought here? If he does, it will be sometime next year,” White added.
McGregor has not fought in the UFC since breaking his leg in defeat to Dustin Poirier in 2021, while his comeback against Michael Chandler in June was called off after the Irishman broke his toe.
A jury at the High Court in Dublin found that McGregor assaulted Ms Hand in a Dublin hotel in December 2018.
Some UFC reporters have been asked not to ask McGregor’s Irishman Ian Machado Garry during UFC 310 fight week.
The UFC said Machado Garry did not want to discuss the issue and would rather focus on his fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov, which the Kazakh welterweight won by unanimous decision.
Meanwhile, White was not seen at Thursday’s pre-fight press conference – an event he usually hosts – but fielded questions at another press conference on Friday promoting UFC 311 in January. He was not asked about McGregor.
Could UFC Ban McGregor From Fighting?
In short, yes, the UFC could ban McGregor from fighting for the promotion.
The UFC Athlete Code of Conduct provides guidelines for the behavior the organization expects from its fighters.
It says athletes should not engage in conduct that “reflects negatively on or brings disparagement, disparagement, scandal, ridicule, or contempt to an athlete or the UFC.”
It adds that sanctions can be imposed on fighters who engage in inappropriate behaviour, citing a number of examples including “violent, threatening or harassing behaviour, bullying, assault, domestic violence, sexual harassment and other sexual abuse”.
Although the UFC has sanctioned athletes for rule violations before, examples are few and far between, and disciplinary actions are more often related to the sport rather than the fighter’s behavior outside the Octagon.
Jon Jones was punished by the UFC on two separate occasions in 2015, including being fined £19,500 for using cocaine, before being suspended and stripped of his light heavyweight title for his part in a hit-and-run incident.
One of the UFC’s most recent sanctions was in December 2022, when it fired Darrick Minner and warned fighters against training with trainer James Krause after the pair allegedly violated betting rules, pending an investigation by the 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 numerous times over the years for behavior that could be considered a violation of its rules.
In 2018, McGregor injured several fighters by throwing a metal doll at a bus. The UFC did not punish him, but a US court ordered him to perform five days of community service.
A few months later, McGregor was involved in a massive fight in the Octagon after defeating Khabib Nurmagomedov. The UFC again did not sanction the Irishman, but he was suspended for six months and fined by the NSAC.
Last year, White was not disciplined by the UFC after a video emerged of him getting into a physical altercation with his wife, while many fighters escaped sanction for using homophobic slurs and engaging in brawls outside of the fight.
When Jorge Masvidal punched British fighter Leon Edwards backstage at an event in 2019, no public action was taken.
The UFC’s disciplinary process is largely at its discretion, and the promotion often leaves outside matters to be handled by the authority or state athletic commissions that oversee its events.
However, other major American sports regularly sanction athletes for actions outside of the sport.
The NFL made major changes to its personal conduct policy in 2021 to include penalties for conduct outside the sport, including domestic violence and sexual assault.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has been suspended for 11 games in 2022 after multiple women accused him of sexual assault.