Dana White Says Conor McGregor Is 'Very Fired Up' About Returning to UFC

Conor McGregor is "very fired up" about returning to the Octagon, as "being a world champion means everything to him," according to UFC President Dana White.

Irishman McGregor lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov in his last outing at UFC 229 in October when the lightweight title was on the line.

According to White, McGregor cannot wait to fight again, per ESPN (h/t The Mac Life):

"It's one of the main things I love about Conor McGregor. The belt means a lot to him, and being a world champion means everything to him. I love it. … One hundred percent (it's still everything to him). One hundred percent.

"When a guy starts to make crazy money, life-changing money, and he's in one of those positions where he's not just making it from the fights—he's making it in other businesses that he has going on right now—you find out what people are all about, how passionate they are about what they do when the money comes. Conor and I still communicate regularly, and he's very fired up about coming back and becoming a world champion again."

McGregor, 30, had not fought in the UFC in almost two years before his clash against Russian Nurmagomedov.

In the interim, he went 10 rounds with Floyd Mayweather Jr. before losing in his professional boxing debut, a bout for which he made a reported $100 million.

McGregor recently appeared to start the process of organising another crossover fight by calling out Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa, who lost an exhibition fight against Mayweather on Dec. 31:

White will of course be eager to see McGregor back fighting for a world title again soon.

Per Lewis Mckeever of Bloody Elbow, McGregor's most likely opponent would be Nurmagomedov again in a rematch for the lightweight title.

However, McGregor has never been shy in the past about changing things up.

He is a former UFC champion at both featherweight and lightweight and has fought twice at welterweight against Nate Diaz, losing once before winning the rematch.