Conor McGregor will face the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov's title defence against Justin Gaethje.
The Irishman will first have to defeat an as yet unannounced opponent on Fight Island this summer.
Leading contenders to take on the Irishman include Nate Diaz in a trilogy clash and Dustin Poirier in a rematch of their 2014 meeting.
McGregor last fought in January when he stopped Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds.
He had hoped to face the winner of Nurmagomedov's proposed clash with Tony Ferguson but that fight was cancelled for the fifth time last month.
Instead Ferguson took on leading contender Gaethje who upset the odds by stopping his fellow American in the final round.
In doing so he became the interim 155lb champion and booked a September date with Nurmagomedov.
And Dana White outlined his plans for the lightweight division for the remainder of 2020.
"I actually talked to Khabib today, Khabib told me he’d be ready in September," he told ESPN.
"Earlier today, I had said [he could fight] this summer, because we were texting back and forth last night and it sounded to me like he was ready to go, but he’s said September.
"Obviously I don’t know what the world is going to look like in September, but I assume it’s still going to be hard to get people in and out of the country so I am definitely thinking it’s going to be on Fight Island.
"Conor will probably fight this summer, then you have [Gaethje-Khabib] fight in September, and then that will line up a fight up for the winner."
