In the end, Conor McGregor’s trash-talking and other questionable antics probably helped Khabib Nurmagomedov ahead of UFC 229.Nurmagomedov admitted last week that McGregor had angered him, vowing: “I will finish this guy”.“He has to kill me to stop me,” the Russian added, per The Sun. “We will see on Saturday if he can get inside my head.“I’m a little angry, if I say I’m not then it’s not true, but my job when I go to the cage is to control my emotions and stay relaxed. I’ll do that and maul this guy.“Sometimes anger helps, but I will stay relaxed. He can say what he wants, in the Octagon when you talk, nobody cares. When we get in the cage we’ll see.”While McGregor talked the talk, it was Khabib who walked the walk by finishing off his opponent in the fourth round.It was an excellent performance from the 30-year-old, who retained the lightweight title but then tarnished the evening by jumping out of the octagon and attacking Dillon Danis.UFC president Dana White has suggested Khabib now faces a $250,000 fine, plus a four-to-six months suspension. If he avoids a stiffer punishment, he should count himself very lucky.It’s a shame the relationship between the two fighters turned so hostile. As was pointed out on this website on Sunday, a mutual respect existed between them around 2014.Two years after that, in 2016, Khabib posted a screenshot of a direct message that he sent to McGregor. It looks rather interesting now.Sent less than two weeks after McGregor won the lightweight title by defeating Eddie Alvarez in New York in November 2016, Khabib wrote: "Conor you the champion now you need to fight with me."If you run every time you look in the mirror you not going to respect yourself, your kids not going to respect you, your friends, your family won't respect you."Die like a Samurai don't chicken out please."I know I'm a bad matchup for you but you the champion and you need to fight the best. Irish people have history and fight for long time, you need to represent your people with honor."It’s understood that McGregor did not reply to Khabib’s DM, but it’s interesting see how the Irishman was goaded into the fight by the Russian.

He even brought McGregor’s nationality into it, presumably to get a reaction, which clearly had the desired effect because less than two years later they were in the octagon together.

Khabib was convinced back then that he was a ‘bad matchup’ for McGregor - and he was proven to be absolutely spot on.

Isn’t it amazing what can happen when you slide into someone’s DMs?