UFC president Dana White has confirmed he has begun talks with Irish superstar Conor McGregor about his potential return next year.

The 32 year-old announced his retirement from MMA at the beginning of June, the third time he has insisted he is hanging up his gloves.

But UFC boss White has now revealed the company are in discussions with The Notorious One to see him back in the octagon in 2021.

“We're working on some fun stuff for Conor for the start of next year," he told ESPN.

"He should be back next year. I'm not saying he's coming back to fight guaranteed but we're talking right now about some stuff."

McGregor has fought just once since losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC Lightweight Title in October 2018.

The Crumlin-born star made his long-awaited return after 15 months out against Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone back in January and destroyed his opponent in just 40 seconds.

But despite repeatedly stating at the start of the year he wanted to be as active as possible in 2020, less than six months later he took to social media to say he had retired.

More recently, McGregor has been making headlines for the wrong reasons as last week he was arrested on the island of Corsica after allegations of sexual assault and indecent exposure.

After undergoing tests on the Friday, he was released by local authorities on Saturday without charge.

Speaking about the incident, White said: "Whether you’re retired or not retired you can get yourself into trouble. I don’t know enough about the Conor situation."