Conor McGregor is back and, boy, is he glad.
The Irishman returns to the cage this weekend to duke it out with Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone at UFC 246 at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas, having not competed since his defeat by Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018.
His passion for the sport is as fierce as ever and he’s raring to go.
"I'm here for the love of competition,” he told BT Sport. “I need MMA, it's a deep-rooted passion. I love it dearly. I will be involved in this game for my entire life.
“MMA gives you that focus, gives you that drive, I wasn't as involved in MMA as much as I should have been and idle hands....it's good to be back and focused."
Gunning for the welterweight title, McGregor has been his brash best in the build-up and is adamant he and Khabib will go head-to-head again, claiming he has already agreed to a rematch.
"We'll get it again, as soon as it's there,” he claimed.
“It was offered to me when they couldn't come to a deal with Tony (Ferguson). They offered it to me and I took it straight away (a rematch with Khabib).
“It was scheduled and there was obviously something going on behind closed doors, then Dana (White) hit me up and I accepted it of course. It's going to happen, it will happen."
All eyes are back on McGregor and there is talk he could be set for a bout with Jorge Masvidal after taking on Cerrone but the UFC superstar insists there are a few possibilities in the pipeline.
"There's many names. Of course, he's in there (Masvidal). I'd like to see him on the scales, let me see.
“Most certainly that's there, the BMF belt would be nice to add to the collection of belts that I have,” he added.
“The options are there, but there's also little stragglers like Gaethje floating around, there's Holloway. There's so many damn names”
Though he turns 32 in the summer, he has no plans to slow down and sees himself fighting well into this decade.
“I'm remaining in shape and keeping going for a good year. This is going to be a phenomenal year, 2020 is going to be a good year.
“I would say I'm going to be fighting up until my 40s. Just know I'm going to be fit, healthy and ready."
New year, same McGregor. He’s back.
