Conor McGregor has learned from his mistakes ahead of his return to the UFC, his team-mate Makwan Amirkhani has insisted.
The former two-division world champion has made headlines this year for a string of unsavoury incidents.
In March, the 31-year-old was arrested in Miami for stealing and smashing the mobile phone of a fan who was filming him outside of the Fontainebleau hotel.
The Irishman was charged with strong-armed robbery and criminal mischief and released after posting bail for £3900.
The charges, however, were later dropped after he reached an out-of-court settlement with the victim.
McGregor found himself in the front pages again a month later when it was reported he struck an elderly man at a Dublin pub.
Video footage released in August confirmed those reports and saw the former featherweight and lightweight receive widespread condemnation.
McGregor – who paid his victim compensation – pled guilty to a single charge of assault earlier this month and was fined £860.
The incidents have seen McGregor alienate his many fans and become the butt of jokes from his fellow fighters.
Amirkhani believes the backlash his SBG Ireland team-mate has received in recent months has forced him to take a long hard look at himself and reckons he’s now seen the error of your ways.
“I think he has learned from mistakes,” the UFC featherweight told Express Sport. “He is young, also, so it’s normal to do mistakes.
“But the most important is that you learn from your mistakes. And I think that he knows the only thing that makes him happy is the sport and the UFC. And that’s what’s good for him.”
McGregor announced his return to action late last month at a press conference in Russia, where he declared he’d be back in action on January 18.
The UFC brass have yet to announced the Dubliner’s return, with UFC president Dana White insisting reports a deal has been agreed for him to fight Donald Cerrone are way off the mark.
Regardless of if he returns at the first pay-per-view card of 2019, Amirkhani is happy to see ‘The Notorious’ back in training and 100 per cent committed to the sport.
He said: “I’m really happy that he took this choice in his life and he’s coming back.”