Thought Daniel Cormier was forced to pull out of his UFC 206 main event against Anthony Johnson, the light heavyweight champion is trying to get back to action as soon as possible.

And that could be by March in 2017.

As reported on UFC Tonight — and later confirmed by MMA Fighting — Cormier will undergo surgery Thursday to repair the groin tear that kept him out of his Dec. 10 bout with Johnson.

If all goes well for Cormier, he is expected to be out of all training for two months, yet he's hopeful he can return in four months.

The 37-year-old Cormier (18-1) tore his adductor tendon in his groin while training for his rematch with Johnson. Since winning the vacant 205-pound title against Johnson at UFC 187, Cormier has defended the title just once. That came against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 192 in Houston last October.

He was expected to make his next title defense against Jon Jones at UFC 200 in July, yet Jones was replaced with Anderson Silva after testing positive for banned substances. The Silva bout, which Cormier won via unanimous decision, was a non-title fight.