UFC star Conor McGregor 's future has become clearer after talks of a fight between Michael Chandler and Tony Ferguson have been discussed.
Dana White told analyst Laura Sanko the promotion is working on a fight between Chandler and Ferguson for later this year.
Although the fight is yet to be signed, it gives more clarity as to who McGregor's opponent could be when he returns to the cage.
If the UFC books Chandler and Ferguson to meet on a fight card in the coming months, McGregor could face the winner of that bout at UFC 276 on July 2.
Chandler made his UFC debut last year, winning by first-round knockout against Dan Hooker and proceeding to call out McGregor.
But the former Bellator champion is now in desperate need of a win after losing consecutive fights to Charles Oliviera and Justin Gaethje.
Ferguson has been calling for a fight with McGregor - who he refers to as 'McNuggets' - for several years but the fight has never been booked.
They once shared the same management label in Paradigm Sports, but McGregor said Ferguson "betrayed" the company for the promise of a baseball contract.
Ferguson is without a win in two and a half years, losing his last three fights to Gaethje, Oliveira and Beneil Dariush.
Current lightweight champion Oliveira was booked to face No.1 contender Gaethje this week, with the pair meeting at UFC 274 in May.
McGregor - who is expected to return in July - requested a title shot against Oliveira in his comeback fight, but the promotion had other plans for 'Do Bronx'.
Likely next in line for the winner of Oliveira vs Gaethje will be either Dariush or Islam Makhachev, with the two top lightweights scheduled to fight on February 26.
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If all else fails and McGregor is not matched up with any top lightweights, a trilogy fight with longtime rival Nate Diaz is still on the table.
McGregor and Diaz first fought in March 2016 when the American stepped up on 11 days notice to hand McGregor his first-ever UFC loss.
'Notorious' would get his revenge five months later by outpointing Diaz at UFC 202, with the event selling a massive 1.6 million buys on pay-per-view.
They have been backed to meet for a third time ever since their rematch, but Diaz would have long spells of inactivity whilst McGregor would continue to fight at 155-pounds.
Diaz is on the last fight of his UFC contract and has recently been linked to a fight with Dustin Poirier, who stopped McGregor twice last year.
