Conor McGregor has confirmed that he remains on schedule to return to the cage this summer as he continues his recovery from a broken leg.
The Dubliner suffered the potentially career-ending injury in the first round of his third fight with Dustin Poirier last July.
He has been rehabilitating ever since and returned to boxing training last week, Mirror UK reports.
McGregor has now had his leg assessed by a doctor and said: "Great day at the doctors today, team. Everything back on schedule. Thank you all for the love and support, Stay ready."
The former two-weight UFC champion hopes to return to full sparring next month before entering training camp in a bid to bring his weight down.
He has bulked up to as heavy as 190lb while he has been injured but expects to return at the lightweight limit of 155lb.
McGregor insists he will be handed a title shot on his return - and UFC president Dana White has refused to rule it out.
Lightweight champion Charles Oliveira will defend his belt against Justin Gaethje on May 7.
Islam Makhachev is widely considered as the most-deserving challenger for the winner but the rescheduling of his fight with Beneil Dariush could hand an opportunity to McGregor.
“It’s going to depend on who the champion is,” White told The Underground recently. “The champion has some say in that, too.
"Who’s going to be the champ when Conor McGregor comes back? And what do they want to do? If you look at [Charles] Oliveira, right... if it’s still Oliveira by the time he comes back, maybe Oliveira wants Conor. Who knows? I don’t know. We’ll see what happens."
McGregor hasn't won at lightweight since he dethroned Eddie Alvarez in perhaps his finest performance in 2016.
And former referee John McCarthy is among those who don't believe he deserves an immediate title shot.
"Having lost his last couple of fights, you can not put him into a title fight," he said.
"If you put him into a title fight, you are making every other fighter in that division basically say: 'So we are s***, it doesn't matter what we do, you're going to do whatever you want.'
"It doesn't work for you, he's going to at least have to get that win."
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