McGregor, 29, hasn’t set foot inside the Octagon since claiming the lightweight title in the main event of UFC 205, a card which saw him immortalise himself by becoming the first fighter in the promotion’s history to hold two titles simultaneously.

The Irishman’s hiatus was initially down to the imminent arrival of his first child, Conor Jr, who was born in May.

It was extended in June when it was announced he’d take on Floyd Mayweather Jr in a multi-million-pound boxing match, which he lost via a tenth round TKO.

McGregor has been enjoying the fruits of his labour to great excess, recently enjoying a wild few nights out in London.

However, it seems that he’s returned to the gym and is preparing to make his long-awaited return to the cage.

On Monday afternoon, McGregor posted a picture of himself in the changing room at Straight Blast Gym Ireland in Dublin as part of an advert for his supplement sponsor, BSN, which can be seen below.

McGregor’s first fight since his unsuccessful boxing debut is expected to be a lightweight title unification bout against interim 155lbs champion Tony Ferguson.

A trilogy fight with Nate Diaz is also in the offing for the Irishman, who has expressed his eagerness to settle the score with the man responsible for his sole UFC loss on several occasions.

UFC president Dana White is adamant McGregor vs Diaz III won’t happen anytime soon and that Ferguson will be the man to welcome ‘The Notorious’ back to the Octagon.

"Nobody has talked about Diaz," White said at the UFC 216 post-fight press conference. "Diaz has never been talked about. That's internet bulls**t.

"Tony is the interim champion, Conor is the champion, it's the fight that makes sense. It's the fight that has to happen. It doesn't make sense, it's the fight that has to happen."