Conor McGregor's comeback could be against Nate Diaz in a long-awaited trilogy, UFC president Dana White has revealed.
The Notorious is currently out of action after suffering a broken leg during his shocking defeat to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July.
Fan favourite Diaz, meanwhile, returned to the octagon a month before McGregor at UFC 263, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Leon Edwards.
The Stockton slapper, 36, currently has one fight left on his contract with the UFC leaving his future uncertain amid reports linking him to a boxing match with YouTube upstart Jake Paul.
And White has teased there is a possibility the American's next outing will be a rubber match against the Irishman.
Speaking to ESPN, he said: "Every time we put on a fight, first and foremost it needs to be a fight the fans want to see.
"The trilogy with McGregor is always there, that fight could happen, we could make that fight."
No matter what happens next, White has promised to deliver 'a big fight' for Diaz, although he admits they're still trying to figure it out.
He added: "The other thing depending how much they make, you want a big fight.
"A good fight. A fight that matters. A fight that's going to create some hype, energy - and sell.
"But that's always the same, if you have 10 fights or no fights [left on your contract].
"If we didn't want to extend Nate Diaz, we'd wait until the deal was up and that's it.
"We've had guys fight their contracts out, and Nate might be one of them - our heavyweight champion is about to fight his contract out.
"This is a tricky thing, because I don't want to sit here and act like Nate Diaz turned this fight down or turned that fight down, I don't want to get into all that.
"I'm in the fight business - by contract, I have to offer these guys three fights per year, and they can say yes or no. We're working it out."
On the subject of McGregor, White insists he is more motivated than he has ever been as he continues his rehab from surgery.
He continued: "The thing I've been saying about him and I'll always say about him is the guy has plenty of money, but he still is super passionate about fighting.
"He's fired up to come back and he's out there doing everything he needs to do to get himself ready to perform again.
"He's telling me this, and you can see it in all of his [social media] posts and the way he's acting. If everything goes right with the healing of his leg, he'll be back this summer.
"I have no idea what the landscape is going to look like by the time he comes back. Dustin Poirier could be retired by the time McGregor comes back.
"I don't know [if he could fight for the title right away when he comes back]. I won't know the answer until it gets closer."
READ MORE: Jorge Masvidal makes chilling threat to Jake Paul after YouTuber calls out UFC star for boxing match