Ask UFC flyweight Ian McCall whether he wants to return to the cage, and you might get an honest answer.

Or maybe, you’ll get a version of the truth, an inkling that came to him in the moment and passed his lips without much thought. It varies by the hour.

“As much as I like to mess with the media and say I’ll never fight again, I don’t know if you guys realize I’m totally full of (expletive),” he told MMAjunkie. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Benched since January 2015 by a series of injuries, McCall (13-5-1 MMA, 2-3-1 UFC), 31, has tried a few things. He announced this past winter he would be a co-manager at a medical marijuana facility. He started coaching. He started a podcast. And recently, he invested in a salon offering cryotherapy and other high-tech machines that help athletes and regular people recover from injuries and medical conditions.

All the while, he’s declared a career in fighting to be a bad investment at this point in his life, though he remains under contract with the UFC.

“Financially, my contract isn’t anything special,” McCall told MMAjunkie Radio. “I don’t want to say anything bad against the UFC because I would probably run my business the same way. I get it. But from where I’m at, physically, I’m tore up, my body’s broken. If I had proper motivation, then sure (I’d fight again), but it’s hard to peak for a training camp when there’s nothing behind it.”

McCall said he “misjudged” the medical marijuana industry and isn’t ready to commit. But he is all in at the salon and spends much of his time helping others recover there.

And yet, in spite of his feelings, McCall can’t bring himself to distance himself from MMA, much less utter the “R” word. He admits he is married to the sport and sees no other pursuit that offers the same rush – and he’s tried a few, to his own detriment.

“I am sick,” he said. “That drug of walking out for a UFC fight, you can’t find it anywhere else.”

Not long ago, he started training for a comeback, putting in the hours necessary to compete at the highest level in the UFC’s octagon. All the while, he suffered numbness in his arm, a possible complication from shoulder surgery and sudden stress on the joint. He told himself he was done fighting and focused on coaching. Then his arm started working again.

The relative health led to a few offers from the UFC, and another discovery by McCall – that he couldn’t accept just any fight to get back into action.

“I have turned down a couple of fights since this year started because I haven’t felt physically OK,” he said. “Let’s say I fought a kid like (Justin) Scoggins, or some hungry young fighter. If I go in there and get obliterated by some young guy, and I don’t give it 100 percent, whether it’s motivation or physically, that’s not fair to me, it’s not fair to my brain, it’s not fair to my opponent, and it’s not fair to the adoring public.

“Maybe somebody needs to light a fire under my ass, or some young fighter needs to talk (expletive). Someone, please motivate me to get in shape and fight.”

You don’t need to remind him that UFC flyweight champ and pound-for-pound great Demetrious Johnson once said he changed his approach to fighting in part due to a pair of close fights with McCall. It’s one of the things “Uncle Creepy” holds on to as he figures out his next move.

“I feel like I’m the only person on the planet who can talk (expletive) to D.J., but I’ve stopped because everybody needs to show him some respect,” McCall said of Johnson. “That guy needs to be put on a pedestal because he’s special. Of course, I still think I can beat him if I get my act together.”

But for now, he is content spending time with his young daughter and nurturing his cryotherapy business while training at the gym. He needs something to upend his current routine – something attractive both competitively and financially.

Anything less won’t light the fire.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show, available on SiriusXM Ch. 93, is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.