Despite Conor McGregor and the UFC's insistence that the former two-division champion is retired from the fight game, both parties hinted at a potential comeback Thursday.
"We're actually working on some fun stuff for Conor at the beginning of next year," UFC president Dana White told SportsCenter on Thursday. "He should be back next year. I'm not saying he's coming back to fight, guaranteed, but we're talking right now about some stuff."
McGregor's agent Audie Attar also confirmed there have been talks with the UFC to ESPN's Ariel Helwani on Thursday.
"We had some very interesting talks with the UFC recently," Attar said. "We are excited about the future and working on some fun things. Exciting things to come in the near future."
McGregor (22-4) announced his retirement from MMA in June, telling ESPN then that "the game just does not excite me, and that's that."
The announcement was met with skepticism, as McGregor had previously announced his retirement from MMA multiple times. He also never exited the UFC's mandatory drug testing program.
McGregor, 32, has not fought since he knocked out Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds in January. He came into 2020 with a plan to fight several times, but those plans were derailed, in part, by the coronavirus pandemic and the UFC's inability to host a live event with fans.