McGregor offers comeback news after carrying female MMA star away from cage (VIDEO)

Former two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor made headlines for the right reasons by carrying compatriot Sinead Kavanagh away from her MMA victory at Bellator 275 on Friday – then revealed when he might make his long-awaited return following his defeat to Dustin Poirier in Abu Dhabi at UFC 264 last July.

'The Notorious', who is currently recovering from the broken leg he suffered in his trilogy bout defeat to Dustin Poirier, was in attendance to see Sinead Kavanagh in action at the 3Arena in the Irish capital.

Fellow Dublin native Kavanagh was injured in the first round but rallied to beat another Irishwoman in Leah McCourt by unanimous decision, potentially setting up a rematch with featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, who beat her by first-round KO in November.

McGregor and Kavanagh share the same coach in John Kavanagh, and the most high-profile active fighter in MMA cheered on his SBG teammate throughout the bout, adding a nice touch by helping the fighter's mother into the octagon to celebrate the victory. 

Not done with his show of chivalry, McGregor then helped Kavanagh, who had been reduced to walking on one leg, to the backstage area from the octagon alongside their coach with a huge smile on his face.

"The knee went on the first second," Kavanagh explained later. "I don't know what happened, it just buckled and then I couldn't even stand up and punch so I had to go into the dogfight.

"I went to the dogfight and I told you, I am good at the ground game. I thought I was finished, I thought I couldn't go on, but I just grinded [sic] my teeth, I just took it and took the win at the end of the day. A pure fighting heart. A pure Irish heart is what I have."

When he was inevitably probed on when he might fight again, McGregor issued a warning to lightweight champion Charles Oliveira – who is currently awaiting his next fight after beating Poirier in thrilling rear-naked choke fashion at UFC 269 in December – and gave an update on his recovery.

"Very good. It’s getting there, day by day," McGregor claimed to SevereMMA. "Day by day, I feel better. They’re telling me to just take it easy but I feel I can go, so I just need to kind of pull the reins back on my own self. So that’s kind of what I’m doing.

"April, they said I can spar again and I can box again, basically. So I’m just going to take it day by day.

"Hopefully now, once I get back sparring, I’ll know [the] weight, I’ll know [how I] feel, I’ll know my own style. You know what I mean?

"I’m going to develop a different style, I’d imagine, so I’ve been shadowboxing a bit lately and I feel like I’m just getting the bearing of myself.

"But I feel good. I’m grounded on my feet, I can stop and start and take off. It’s just the little twists or a torque, I’ve just got to be careful on.

"But this will be a 'here today, gone tomorrow' type of thing in my own head. The bone will recover, it’ll connect back to itself and it’ll be like it never happened."

READ MORE: Ex-UFC stunner VanZant’s MMA husband suffers brutal KO (VIDEO)

Moving on to Oliveira, who is fancied to take on former Khabib Nurmagomedov victim Justin Gaethje next, McGregor said: "If your man’s wise, he might give it another month or two.

"July seems OK for me. I can’t say too early, but July, if I’m sparring in April, May, June, July – I could slap the head off of most of these guys at the end of April.

"I just want to compete. I know that [I’m one of the best in the world]. I don’t have to prove that – I am that. Man, I’m the double champ."

Referencing his stratospherically lucrative 2017 cross-over boxing bout with legendary pugilist Floyd Mayweather, McGregor said: "I went to the different sport, I came back.

"I don’t have to prove that, I know that. So it’s just about getting back in, competing, getting myself into pristine condition and going in and enjoying myself, putting on a show for the fans. That’s it.

"Once I get the leg cleared and I get that feeling of myself when I kick a body, when I step back in and out and I get that feel of it, then I’ll be able to gauge time."

McGregor promised to "isolate" himself and stay away from the pub, where he suggested he might be tempted to drink whiskey and beer.

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"I’m in no hurry, no rush," McGregor said. "I know a lot of people are supporting me and I want to do them well. I want to do my support well, and that’s what we’re going to do."

Elsewhere on the card, MMA stunner Paige VanZant watched her partner Austin Vanderford suffer the first loss of his career when he was dismantled by middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi in under a minute and a half in the headline bout after Kavanagh won.

Ciaran Clarke further flew the flag for Ireland by stopping Abou Tounkara in another featherweight bout, and a compatriot of Dagestani Nurmagomedov, Khasan Magomedsharipov, also remained unbeaten by battling to a unanimous decision win over Jose Sanchez in the same class.