UFC president Dana White has revealed he’s expecting Conor McGregor to return to the octagon in the ‘summer’.
The Irishman has made a faster-than-expected recovery from the horrific broken leg he suffered in his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier in July.
McGregor, 33, is eyeing a full return to sparring in April, which White believes will pave the way for a comeback fight in June or July.
He told ESPN: “If everything goes right with the timing of his healing, he should be back this summer.”
A fourth fight with Poirier could be in the offing for McGregor following the former interim lightweight champion’s recent defeat to Charles Oliveira.
But White has no clue who The Notorious will face in his eagerly-anticipated return bout.
He admitted: I have no idea what the landscape is gonna look like when he comes back.
“So to talk about him and Dustin – Dustin could be retired by the time Conor McGregor [comes back].
“You never know what’s gonna happen in this sport. So I don’t know, you have to ask me this, this [coming] summer.
“When we see what’s going on in that division in the sport and figure out what’s next for Conor.”
McGregor shattered his left tibia and fibula in the closing stages of his UFC 264 rubber match with Poirier.
The former two-division champion’s manager Audie Attar recently revealed to SunSport his recovery ‘ahead of schedule’, although the Dubliner doesn’t want to rush himself back to quickly.
During a recent impromptu Twitter Q&A, Ireland’s first and only UFC champion told fans: “The fibula is fully healed.
“The medial side of the tibia is developing nice callous also.
“It is just patience now for it to form down through the bone to the lateral side of the tibia where the larger break occurred.
“It’s getting there. Patience will win this race for me!”
