Fight Forecast: What will Conor McGregor do when he returns?

The dust is settling on UFC 200, and Conor McGregor is nowhere to be seen.

On Tuesday, the UFC found itself a marquee headliner for its July 9 megacard when Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier signed on for a much-anticipated light heavyweight title unification bout.

Now that he has the star power of Jones at the helm, UFC president Dana White is in a much more comfortable position to deal with the McGregor dilemma. In the days surrounding McGregor's internet-breaking social media posts, White and the UFC never wavered in their decision to remove him from UFC 200, and it appears their resolve has paid dividends.

There are only two choices for McGregor now: Follow up on his initial retirement tweet and leave millions of dollars in future earnings on the table, or work something out with the UFC.

Related: What would Conor McGregor's legacy be if he walked away from the UFC?

Working under the assumption that this dispute falls somewhere between brilliant promotional stunt and highly publicized staring contest, a reconciliation seems inevitable.

When the time comes for McGregor to fight, here are three possibilities that await him:

A rematch with Nate Diaz at UFC 201 (or 202, or 203, or ...)

White has already said he expects McGregor to fight soon, and a rematch with Diaz makes more sense than ever.

The UFC lucked out with this whole McGregor affair, as it has produced a ridiculous amount of free publicity, and adding these two to an already stacked card almost seems like a waste. Wherever Diaz and McGregor end up fighting, it's likely they'll surpass the buy rate of the highly touted UFC 200.

That might not be ideal for the company given the massive promotional effort they've put behind the event, but they could still come out ahead, especially if McGregor and Diaz headline a historic New York card in November.

A return to featherweight for a unification bout

The 145-pound class has always been regarded as one of the most competitive and entertaining in all of MMA, but its fighters haven't drawn the numbers to match the critical acclaim.

When McGregor emerged as a bona fide featherweight star, it was an unforeseen blessing. The hype around the charismatic Irishman culminated in a title-fight win over Jose Aldo at UFC 194, which drew more than 1.2 million pay-per-view buys.

The belt has remained uncontested since, with McGregor going up in weight in search of superfights.

Aldo and Frankie Edgar are set to fight for an interim title at UFC 200, and McGregor has to at least entertain the notion of battling the winner to unify the belts.

Staying at 155 to go for the lightweight title

One can't be blamed for forgetting that once upon a time, McGregor's goal was to beat lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 196 and become the first man to hold two UFC belts simultaneously.

A lot has happened since that fight was originally scheduled.

Dos Anjos broke his foot, McGregor jumped up to welterweight, Diaz submitted McGregor, a McGregor-Diaz rematch was booked, McGregor threatened to retire, and Diaz has gone on vacation.

Oh, and Dos Anjos is now defending his title against Eddie Alvarez on the UFC's online Fight Pass service instead of a PPV.

It wouldn't take much for McGregor to drum up fan interest again should he decide to resume the hunt for a second belt, and Dos Anjos remains one of the most compelling in-cage challenges for him at any weight class.