Conor McGregor had to address the footage of him from April where he struck an elderly patron at a pub. In a lengthy interview that aired on ESPN, he talked about what happened but also filled fans in on when he would actually be fighting professionally. One of the things he commented on was watching his old rival Nate Diaz return at UFC 241.

McGregor said it was a "motivating experience" to see Diaz return after his three-year layoff and not only secure a victory along with the possibility of a high profile match against Jorge Masvidal. McGregor said that his return would be, "the greatest of all." Diaz and McGregor are 1-1 against each other, with McGregor winning the last by decision.

The thing about a decision, when it is not a dominant victory, is that it is ultimately the opinion of three people sitting cageside. So, when a win is questioned by either fighter or fans, that is usually enough to warrant another fight. Especially when the fighters have fought before, with a finish coming the first time, and a decision the second like McGregor and Diaz.

Anyone that has played any sort of fighting video game knows that to win you, and solidify your next match with no argument, you need to win two out of three matches. In combat sports, there is a reason trilogy fights are made when a rivalry is great. They are made to settle things once and for all. For his part, the Irish fighter is putting the ball in the court of Diaz. "If he does not want the trilogy bout, no problem," McGregor said of the potential of fighting Diaz a third time. "I don't blame him."

Fans can expect McGregor to return to action before the end of the year when asked those claims were true. "True," McGregor said. "I'm already in shape, have not lost my conditioning. I would look for that, the end of the year. While his return fight seems to be dependent on how his hand injury heals, he did say he has an interest in who wins between current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier at UFC 242. "Let's see how things happen in September at Abu Dhabi."

The "baddest mother f---er" title defense against Masvidal is still a fight that's interesting, but so is settling the score between these two.

Edward Carbajal serves as the lead MMA analyst for Frontproof Media and holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a brown belt in Ishin Ryu karate. He has covered combat sports since 2014 and has been a fan of MMA since the first UFC. You can follow him on Twitter @Carbazel or at his website TheBlogBoardJungle.com.