Conor McGregor ends Irish presidential campaign

Conor McGregor will not be the next president of Ireland. The former two-division UFC champion announced he's ending his presidential campaign.

"Notorious" made the announcement in a social media post on X "Following careful reflection, and after consulting with my family, I am withdrawing my candidacy from this presidential race," McGregor wrote.

McGregor, 37, teased a presidential run last year and made an official announcement in March that he intended to be on the presidential ballot. To do that, McGregor needed the endorsement of at least 20 members of parliament or four of 31 local authorities. He blamed his campaign's end on the requirements. 

"Ireland has drastically changed in recent years, however, is constraint by the straitjacket of an outdated Constitution that is selectively upheld by the main Oireachtas parties, and exploited to prevent a true democratic Presidential election being contested, but rather fixed to ensure only Establishment approved candidates may be selected on the ballot," McGregor said. 

"This democratic deficit against the will of the Irish people has now been successfully magnified by my expression of interest. In a very short period, I have catalyzed a mobilization for positive change in Ireland against a malevolent political witch-hunt working together with the mainstream media supercharged Fake News," he said.

Per reports, McGregor was on a list of prospective candidates to appear before Dublin and Kildare County Councils on Monday, but his withdrawal came before having to present his case where he could have potentially faced questions.

McGregor has been out of action since breaking his leg in a trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021. He's teased an octagon return for years but it hasn't came to fruition. 

He was expected to return at UFC 303 against Michael Chandler in June 2024 but pulled out of the fight citing a toe injury. The Irishman now wants his comeback to be part next year's White House fight card, and UFC CEO Dana White would like him to potentially headline the event.