I could see him back in around April. The ufc should set a deadline to strip him though.
Haven't heard anything from the chap who was the commissioner at the Bellator event in Dublin who seemed to be head strong about Conor being served with a suspension if he fights in the UFC.
Conor said before the Mayweather fight and after it he didn't care about the money and that he was set for life already. People go on as if they know about how much he makes and that he's spending his money quicker than he earns it - nobody knows what he's making, what he has invested in with it, etc.
Since 189 he's talked publicly with Dana beside him about how he is bringing in revenue for the UFC, that he's not getting his fair share of the profits and it's not like he banked all the money made on his side - for him to fight outside of his contract with the UFC needs their permission and they have their hands held out taking in some of that money. That's the only explanation I can come up with Dana saying they had their 'best year' in 2017 (if that is true)
In terms of the belt being defended, the UFC are going to give him a special dispensation on a timeline of when it's defended. Conor had said they were negotiating and Dana said the same thing at a media scrum he done not so long ago. I don't think he's given any signals that he doesn't want to fight anymore, but I'd guess that it's a point of principal that he gets a fair share of the money made from an event he's headlining.
Also, with the way that Mayweather fight went, he took clean shots to the head and Conor has always being vocal about head trauma and worrying about being a vegetable later on in life. I think the damage he took in that fight could possibly be a reason why he's letting his brain heal up - but he's not going to talk about that publicly, imo.
Who knows what's going on, but I don't think it's a case of Conor kicking his heels and deciding if he wants to fight again or not. From what he's said in interviews promoting the documentary, he's talked about wanting to fight again.