Conor McGregor could still fight in 2021 despite his horror leg break, according to UFC boss Dana White.
While that possibility seems unlikely, the UFC boss appears to be impressed with the Irishman's progress, having been seen walking around with the assistance of a cane at the MTV Video Music Awards over the weekend.
McGregor was involved in an altercation with rapper Machine Gun Kelly at the event but has played down the incident.
And with McGregor saying recently that he feels he could be throwing kicks again soon, White has added that if the healing process continues going well, he'd be happy for McGregor to fight this year.
"Conor seems to be healing up pretty well," he told the Australian Daily Telegraph . "The question is when can he start kicking again?
"And more importantly, when can he start taking kicks on that leg? That's the biggest question about Conor McGregor.
"If he could take kicks, then he'd be looking at a fight before the end of the year again; so it all depends on how fast that leg heals."
McGregor was seen strolling around New York this week after his outing in Brooklyn at the VMAs, and is now back in Los Angeles where he will continue to rehabilitate his leg.
And speaking to journalist Adam Glyn during the week, he said that he feels he could kick again, although his doctors have told him to take his recovery slowly.
“I feel like I could kick right now,” McGregor said. “I honestly feel like I could kick right now.
"But I’m just got to listen to the doctors and listen to the people that guided me, that’s what I’ve done so far.
"I’ve committed myself to the work. I’m back on the feet. It feels so good to be back on the feet.'
McGregor was warned by his medical team not to make the trip to New York, but felt that he had to be there to offer his support to pal Justin Bieber.
"I'm deep in my recovery," McGregor continued. "My surgeons, my doctors, my physical therapists didn't want me to come here.
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"They wanted me to stay still and just get the work in, but it was an honour to come here and give [Bieber] a shoutout for artist of the year.
"It's always great to mix in with that [celebrity] crowd, that's not really my world, but to see it, I was in awe of it."
The Irishman suffered the brutal injury during his UFC 264 showdown with Dustin Poirier on July 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
He was stepping back after throwing a teep kick when his leg snapped underneath him, resulting in the fight being immediately stopped and Poirier taking the trilogy.
The pair had held KO wins over one another, with McGregor having beaten the American in seconds during their first meeting in 2014.
But Poirier would then win the rematch by KO in the second round of their January 2021 meeting in Dubai.
