Conor McGregor's coach reveals timeline for Irishman's UFC return to defend lightweight title

Conor McGregor will fight before the end of the year, and it is unclear if the bout is in the boxing ring or in the octagon, according to coach John Kavanagh.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) men's lightweight title holder has been pining for a boxing match with undefeated five-division champion Floyd Mayweather, who has confirmed that he will come out of retirement to put his 49-0 record on the line against McGregor. The mega-money fight looks likely to happen barring a sudden turnaround from either fighter.

UFC president Dana White had initially suggested that the fight is unlikely to happen as McGregor is contracted exclusively to the UFC, but has since softened his stance. Kavanagh, who is in Australia at the moment, believes the fight will happen at the end of the summer, which could make it almost a year since he last fought.

"What I see happening this year is the Mayweather fight, maybe the end of the summer or something like that," Kavanagh told news.com.au.

McGregor last appeared in an octagon last November at UFC 205 when he beat Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title and became the first man in UFC history to hold two-weight titles simultaneously. He then revealed that he will be taking an extended break as he expecting the birth of his first child with long-time girlfriend Dee Devlin.

'The Notorious' as McGregor is popularly knows has four fights left in his UFC contract. And in the event that the McGregor vs Mayweather fight does not take place, Kavanagh has confirmed that the Irish MMA star will return to the octagon at the end of the summer to defend his title.

"Let's say Mayweather doesn't want to do it, for whatever reason. Then I could see us fighting in MMA by the end of the summer, (for) the lightweight belt," McGregor's coach added.