Conor McGregor is reportedly preparing for his second boxing fight - against Luke Keeler in Dublin on December 14.
The former two-weight UFC champion has not fought since he was choked out by Khabib Nurmagomedov last October.
He was expected to return to the cage later this year or early in 2020 - but he could instead climb through the ropes.
McGregor made his professional boxing debut in 2017 when he was stopped by ring legend Floyd Mayweather.
Keeler, a middleweight with 17 wins from his 20 fights, was involved in a war of words with McGregor earlier this year.
He called out his countryman who then phoned the 32-year-old boxer.
"I don’t want to get into it too much, but I know he wasn’t happy about the call out,” Keeler told Irish Boxing.
"The fight community in Ireland is small enough and Crumlin isn’t too far from Ballyfermot- and I heard he wasn’t happy with the timing of.
"He rang me and we had a few words. I told him the fight was there to be made and he was all for it. He agreed to fight over the phone.
"I agree it could be just all talk. Whether he has the balls or not to get in the ring again, never mind with me, we will have to see.
"He could have been just trying to front up or speaking in anger, but it got to the stage where I felt comfortable enough passing onto my management team."
McGregor appeared to announce his comeback on Monday when he tweeted: "Dublin, December 14".
Fans assumed he was referring to a return to the UFC at the promotion's year-ending show in Las Vegas - but instead he could be fighting much closer to home, according to the Irish Daily Star.
