Conor McGregor is 'chomping at the bit' to get back inside the octagon as soon as possible as he steps up his recovery from surgery.
The Irishman suffered a brutal first-round TKO loss in his Las Vegas trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier in the summer which has led some to question his long-term future in the sport of mixed martial arts.
McGregor, 33, is currently recovering from a broken leg after he suffered a combined fracture of the tibia and fibula in the first round of his rubber match against Poirier back at UFC 264.
But according to UFC president Dana White, McGregor is itching to return to active competition and hopes to return to training at the earliest opportunity.
“He’s chomping at the bit to get back in there and compete again,” White told The Jim Rome Podcast.
“It’s going to be a while before he can put some torque on that leg.
"April. For him to start training again in April is probably about right.”
Although he hasn't heard anything to suggest otherwise, White admits he doesn't know if McGregor still wants to compete at such a high level anymore.
“I don’t know [how badly he wants it],” he admitted.
“He obviously still has the desire to compete."
However, White insists that McGregor has given no thought to hanging up his gloves for good anytime soon despite the severity of the injury.
He added: "You don’t ever hear Conor going, ‘You know what, man? I just don’t have the desire for this anymore.’ You know what I mean?
"He’s obviously very rich, and he’s training like Rocky in ‘Rocky III,’ but he still has the desire to compete and the desire to fight, and we’ll see what happens.”
McGregor - considered 'The Notorious' - became the first-ever two division champion in UFC history after beating Eddie Alvarez in 2016 but has fallen on hard times as of late.
His latest setback against Poirier saw him fall to three defeats in his last six outings and extended his winless streak at lightweight to just over four years.
But the UFC's poster boy looks to be in incredible shape as he plans to come back bigger and stronger than ever before.
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