Conor McGregor is expected to be back for another MMA fight with the UFC once 2018 arrives, as he hasn't competed inside the Octagon since November 2016 when he defeated Eddie Alvarez for the UFC Lightweight Championship with a second-round TKO in the main event of UFC 205.

Since his last UFC fight, McGregor has tried his hand in the sport of boxing, having his first professional fight in the sport during the summer against boxing legend Floyd Mayweather. Unfortunately for him though, he lost the fight after a 10th round TKO.

This fight wasn't all bad for Notorious, as he did walk away with a $100 million payday, which has left many to question if he will return to fighting in either sport, as he now has plenty in the bank for himself and his family.

McGregor did announce that he would return to fighting in MMA rather than boxing, and during a recent interview with Sky Sports, the Irishman stated he was returning to the sport of MMA, not because of the money, but because he is passionate about fighting.

He said: "It is not necessarily a money thing for me. I am passionate about fighting. Fighting is what I love to do. I will continue to do it as long as I am healthy and willing to put in the work that it takes to do.

"I will not be stupid though. I will not notice things about myself and then continue to do it like many others before me. It is a dangerous, ruthless business and I am aware of that. Thankfully I am in a position of great wealth. I do not need to do it. I am doing it for the love of it.”

While the UFC Lightweight Champion was vague about his immediate plans for the future, he did state that his utmost priority is his health and well-being.

"I always look at the end from a damage-taken standpoint. How much damage have I taken? How is my brain? How is my mental health? How is my physical body? How is my training? How is my preparation? How is my hunger for it? That is where I gauge how long I will do it and there is still a lot left in me.”

In his first UFC fight in over a year, McGregor is expected to face interim UFC Lightweight Champion Tony Ferguson in order to unify the UFC Lightweight titles.