On October 6, Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov will finally meet inside the Octagon at UFC 229. The long-awaited bout will be for the lightweight championship - but as fans know, the beef between the pair is more personal than just fighting over a belt.

BAD BLOOD

"Notorious" and "The Eagle" have been on course to meet since April. Back then, ahead of UFC 223, McGregor attacked a bus full of fighters.

He was targetting Khabib - aiming to send a message to the Russian after he had a run in with Artem Lobov - a long time friend and training partner of Conor's. 

The assault didn't injure Nurmagomedov himself, but a number of other UFC fighters were hurt - and the incident caused an awful lot of controversy - and landed McGregor in court. 

Now though, he's been cleared to return to the cage - and will aim to settle the unfinished business he has with Khabib one-on-one. 

But there wasn't always bad blood between the pair - as an old Twitter exchange appears to show. 

FORMER FRIENDS?  

Back in 2014, when Nurmagomedov was no more than a rising star and McGregor was fighting in the featherweight division, the men had a rather mild conversation on social media.

It started when Khabib complimented one of Conor's walkout tees, claiming that he needed to buy it.

The Irishman responded in very friendly fashion. 

If that doesn't sound strange enough, The Eagle actually asked to meet Notorious in person to pick up his new threads and McGregor went on to suggest that they should train together. 

After everything that's happened, how crazy is it to see that these two were once on very good terms? 

Their exchange just seems so bizarre - especially after how personal their beef has been recently. 

Of course, both fighters have probably forgotten about the words they shared back in 2014 - and will no doubt try to dominate one another in the cage. 

Still, though, it's quite funny to imagine what could have been... because at the time, some MMA fans thought they'd be a dynamic duo in the UFC. 

Wow, how times have changed. Roll on October.