UFC president Dana White ruled out the prospect of Conor McGregor making his UFC return in Dublin on December 14.
However, White said McGregor could be on the card at a UFC event in Las Vegas on the same date.
If not, it is likely the Irishman will make his long-awaited return to the octagon early next year.
McGregor appeared to suggest he was lining up a homecoming bout in the Irish capital this week when he tweeted: "Dublin, December 14th."
But White said that wasn't happening as there is a UFC event at the the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that night.
Asked in a Twitter Q&A session when is McGregor going to fight next, White said: "I'm sure you saw his tweet. Conor wants to fight on December 14 in Dublin, but we have a fight in Vegas.
"So if he doesn't fight on that card, he will fight early next year."
McGregor has not fought since losing in a fourth-round submission to Khabib Nurmagomedov last October.
Meanwhile, Jorge Masvidal has claimed that a fight with McGregor would end up with "a murder charge".
Welterweight Masvidal is getting primed for a showdown with McGregor's rival Nate Diaz in November.
Masvidal has previously been touted as an opponent for McGregor.
But the 34-year-old has claimed that UFC chief White warned the pairing could have deadly consequences.
Masvidal said on ESPN's "Get Up" on Thursday: "That fight, the president [White] deemed it not good because they don't want a murder charge on me.
"So they're not going to allow that to happen. The president himself already said it, so, I don't want to go to jail for killing nobody. That's not what I want to do. I'm here to compete.
"The president said that we can't compete because I'm too much man. That can't happen. We're different spectrums. They're not going to allow that to happen."
