Conor McGregor is isolating in Los Angeles and fully focused on returning to the UFC, with a potential comeback next year.That’s according to McGregor‘s longtime training partner and good friend, Dillon Danis.McGregor injured his right knee seconds into his return fight against Holloway at UFC 329 in JulyGettyThe Irishman said the injury left him ‘beyond dark’ – but he is now seemingly fully focused on returning next yearGettyAhead of his wrestling match against UFC star Arman Tsarukyan at RAF 14 on Friday, Danis shared insight into McGregor’s current headspace, three months out from the Irishman’s nightmare return at UFC 329.“After the fight, you could only imagine how someone would feel coming after five years and that happening that fast,” Danis told MMA Fighting.McGregor fought for the first time in over five years in July, but his main event against Max Holloway ended in just 69 seconds after he injured his knee in the opening exchange.The 38-year-old said the loss left him ‘beyond dark,’ and he has since stepped away from the limelight to get surgery and focus on recovery.McGregor ‘a lot better,’ says Danis“He was in a dark place, any human would be,” Danis added.“I’m not going to go into details of what we talked about ’cause that’s obviously personal, but now his head is a lot better.“He has a 24/7 nurse with him. He’s doing all the exercises. He’s isolated himself in Los Angeles, doing all the right things for his knee and he’s focused on coming back.“There’s something about Conor that when he puts his mind towards something, he gets it done.“There’s no one that will tell him he’s not fighting again, ‘You’re never gonna be the same,’ or all the bulls*** that everybody says.“When that guy has his head on something, it’s blinders, and he is focused right now.McGregor has said he wants to contest the final fight of his UFC contract in the summer of 2027Getty“I talk to him almost every day. He’s in a good spot right now, which I’m happy to see.”When could McGregor return to UFC?McGregor suffered ACL and meniscus injuries in his right knee against Holloway and successfully underwent surgery in August.He has his sights set on returning to competing at the UFC’s International Fight Week in 2027 and wants a trilogy with Holloway in what could be his final UFC fight.McGregor has one fight left on his current UFC deal and has already discussed a potential future outside the promotion in the likes of his own Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), for example.With the UFC now operating outside a pay-per-view model in terms of its broadcast deal with Paramount+, the options for McGregor to make lucrative figures from his fights in Dana White‘s promotion are limited.It seems, however, that McGregor is fully focused on getting himself fit again for one potential last dance in the UFC.talkSPORT's UFC pound-for-pound rankingstalkSPORT.com has collectively voted on the best fighters to form a regularly updated UFC pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings system for the rest of 2026 and beyond.Our P4P list will be updated regularly based on performances in the Octagon — with wins, records, title wins and defences, calibre of opponents, methods of victory and much more all determining who makes it.UFC champions Islam Makhachev, Joshua Van and Sean Strickland feature – but big stars such as Alex Pereira and Tom Aspinall miss out.