Conor McGregor has been hard at work in the gym as he makes his way back from the broken tibia injury he suffered in his last fight against Dustin Poirier back in July last year.

Conor may not have fought in nearly a year but he has maintained his social media presence, and the latest pictures that his camp have released show him bulked up and bigger than ever.

 Due to the nature of the injury, his training has been focused on the weights and thus the new physique.

These photos show him back sparring for the first time and that is encouraging news for McGregor fans who will be desperate to see him returning to the UFC Octagon.

His next fight is yet to be confirmed, but it is looking likely to be sometime this autumn.

His coach John Kavanagh has said that he expected him to come back fighting as a middleweight which would see him fighting at anywhere up to 185lbs. 

He is currently reported to be weighing in at 190lbs, and from the look of the latest photos that could be understating it. 

The likelihood is that he won’t go in that high and instead look to cut weight and get down to Welterweight and 170lbs, where a mouth watering match up against Kamaru Usman for the title could await. 

Conor’s recent fight record might not warrant a title shot, but so strong is his pull that a match-up like that would draw plenty of attention and get those much sought after PPV buys.

Outside of Usman there will be a long line of opponents looking to fight McGregor, who is still the big money fight in the UFC. 

A trilogy fight against Nate Diaz has a narrative that the ad guys can run with. Or perhaps another fight against Dustin Poirier with McGregor’s injury cutting short their last fight.

Whoever McGregor fights it will be box office, and the Notorious looks bigger and badder than ever.