Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor has denied reports claiming he has been removed from the UFC roster.
Early on Friday morning, popular social media account, UFC Roster Watch, posted to X (formerly Twitter), stating McGregor had been removed from the UFC's roster.
Curiously, it comes just weeks after McGregor posted to his own social media accounts vision of what appeared to be him submitting a urine sample for anti-doping analysis, suggesting he was making moves to return to the octagon by re-entering the UFC's testing pool.
❌ Fighter removed: Conor Mcgregor
— UFC Roster Watch (@UFCRosterWatch) August 14, 2025
Journalist Ariel Helwani, however, shared a message from McGregor, denying the reports he'd been released.
Conor McGregor HAS NOT parted ways the UFC.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) August 14, 2025
Both @TheNotoriousMMA and his team confirmed this to me.
He also confirmed he is back in the pool, has submitted tests and all have come back clean.
“It’s all systems a go,” he said.
Additionally, UFC boss Dana White left a comment on an Instagram post, labelling the reports "Total BULLSH*T".
Amid recent training videos, McGregor has also declared his intention to run for the Presidency of Ireland.
The news comes in the same week the UFC announced they'd signed a mammoth seven-year U.S. broadcast deal with Paramount worth $7.7 billion.
Following the reports of his release by the company, fans have speculated on a raft of potential reasons.
If McGregor's time in the UFC is up, it would end a 12-year run in the MMA organisation for the Irishman, who became the sport's biggest star and won the world championship at both featherweight and lightweight.
Since winning the 155-pound title at UFC 205 in November 2016, "The Notorious" has fought just four times in MMA, losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Dustin Poirier, twice, while claiming one win over Donald Cerrone.
That extended period of relative inactivity came after a sojourn to boxing, in which he was stopped by Floyd Mayweather in a blockbuster bout.
In recent years, McGregor has found himself in the middle of several legal controversies, most significantly being found liable in a civil sexual assault case stemming from a 2018 Dublin incident.
His last fight came in July 2021.