Earlier this month, it was announced that Conor McGregor will finally be returning to the Octagon at UFC 229. 

The Irishman will be stepping into the cage with long-term rival Khabib Nurmagomedov on October 6 - and there will be fireworks. 

A PERSONAL ENCOUNTER

We all know the story by now - the pair's beef goes way back to April, when McGregor attacked a bus full of UFC fighters, targetting Khabib. 

His actions came after "The Eagle" had a run-in with one of Conor's training partners - and there's been a lot of back and forth between the two camps ever since. 

So when the two do share a cage in just over a months time, expect them both to leave it all in there. 

AN UNCONFIDENT CHAMP?

Nurmagomedov has been made the slight favourite early on - but that's not too surprising, considering he holds the lightweight title heading into the fight.  

But despite being backed by the bookies - the Russian's camp doesn't seem all to confident.

In fact, Khabib's trainer has actually named a part of McGregor's game that he probably won't be able to contend with. 

According to coach Javier Mendez, "Notorious" is the better striker of the pair and if his fighter has any chance of winning the fight, he'll have to stay away from that side of the fight game. 

NO STAND-UP GAME 

"There’s no amount of time that we have that’s going to help us to try and get him to stand up," Mendez told the Eurobash Podcast about training Khabib, per Bloody Elbow.

"There’s no way possible. So, I’m not gonna say, ‘Oh yeah, we’re gonna get him ready’… come on…wake up…it ain’t gonna work.

"He’s a master, in my opinion, on the fighting arts. And he’s also got a ground game — he’s good everywhere," Mendez said of McGregor.

"I’m not sleeping on how great he is. I’m prepared for everything, but he is a great fighter."

Of course, The Eagle's trainer didn't spend the entire interview outlining Conor's strengths - and revealed how Nurmagomedov can win the fight. 

FIGHTING WITH HIS STRENGTHS

"We have to fight our strengths, we have to find ways of opening the doors to where his weaknesses are and likewise. This is basically the classic grappler versus striker fight.

"We’re the better grappler, he’s the better striker, but that doesn’t mean we won’t strike, it just means he’s better. It’s about who plays whose game."

It's hard to argue with anything that Mendez is suggesting - but it's interesting that he's made these positive McGregor comments so publically - especially as the fight is now just over a month away.