Conor McGregor made an unexpected return to the boxing ring on Friday night, with highlights of his three-round contest against local amateur Barry Nolan going viral on social media.

McGregor, who hasn't fought since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier in July 2021, was the big attraction at this year's Good Friday show at the Crumlin Boxing Club in Dublin.

He received a rapturous welcome from locals as he entered the ring wearing all-white protective gear.

After a steady start to the contest against Barry Nolan, a local amateur, the former two-weight UFC champion scored standing eight-counts in the second and third rounds, according to Bloody Elbow.

Footage of the exhibition bout soon emerged, with McGregor delivering a trademark uppercut, as well as some other heavy shots, before thanking those who paid just €10 to attend.

As seen in the footage above, McGregor did not hold back against Nolan, who struggled to land a shot on the former UFC champion, who has only competed once in professional boxing, a 2017 fight against Floyd Mayweather.

Here's how fans on social media reacted to his performance.

One said: "I really hope he wasn’t going 100% here," while another commented: "McGregor just reminded everyone why you never sleep on him, even in a ‘friendly’ exhibition."

A third wrote: "Looks slow, awkward and barely any head movement."

A fourth said: "He still got that head movement though, this looks healthy Conor," and a fifth added: "Damn he looked good and sharp."

Nate Diaz opens up on why he turned down UFC's offer to fight Conor McGregor

Nate Diaz has claimed he turned down an offer from the UFC to fight Conor McGregor for a third time.

The 40-year-old, who hasn't featured in the UFC since beating Tony Ferguson in September 2022, will face “Platinum” Mike Perry on the stacked Ronda Rousey vs Gina Carano undercard on May 16.

Diaz's bout with Perry is part of the Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) event on Netflix and will be contested over five five-minute rounds in the welterweight division

Diaz has been vocal about his desire to take on newly-crowned BMF champion Charles Oliveira, but the UFC wanted him to finish his trilogy with Conor McGregor, an idea Diaz was not on board with.

"I believe they wanted me to come back and fight Conor McGregor, not Oliveira,” said Diaz.

“I’m going to fight for my belt that I created that I deserve since I started the division to bring value to all these f***ing fighters. I started this whole s***, me. That’s my belt you’re wearing around your hips.

“And they were like, ‘okay, we want you to come back and maybe later we can do that’. I’m like well, you know who is doing a good job, [I got] almost close to the same amount offered for Mike Perry, who’s the most violent motherf***er around right now. Doing things, taking on businesses, running his own promotion.

“I’m a lot more enthusiastic to get up and run and get ready to train for this motherf***er who’s going to knock me out or I’m going to knock his a** out - who’s the biggest dog or who’s the best motherf***er there is.