UFC Fight Island will once again play host to the biggest stars in MMA as the COVID-19 pandemic rolls on into 2021.

Most notably is Conor McGregor returning to action at lightweight, rematching Dustin Poirier after over a year out of the Octagon.

The Crumlin-born star has been making a lot of noise ahead of his January bout at UFC 257, not only through his impressive looking physique and sparring footage, but his usual social media antics too.

In his most recent Twitter spat, McGregor fired shots at Khabib Nurmagomedov and his manager, Ali Abdelaziz.

Ever the provocateur, the Irishman called out the Russian in tweets that have subsequently been deleted, before being promptly shut down by Abdelaziz’s remark:

“You said to Khabib in the cage only business. Go get an IV and sober up because we know you drunk or high”.

This comment was retweeted by Khabib’s unbeaten compatriot Khamazat Chimaev, who backed up his friend, saying:

“Don’t worry big brother I’m going to smash this chicken for you”.

A fight between Chimaev and McGregor is not entirely impossible, with the former able to make welter. At 6’2”, he is huge at the weight.

Social media trash talk has been a mainstay of McGregor’s fight preparation for a long time, with the southpaw opting to attempt to psych out his opponents in order to gain a mental advantage.

However, as we saw in 2018, this is not so effective with a certain Russian contingent. In this case, he is not provoking an upcoming opponent, but rather a former one, with whom he is hoping to share the octagon again.

The verbal Twitter exchange was followed up by a comparison photo, posted by Abdelaziz, which caught the eye of MMA fans and put things into perspective somewhat.

On the right, we see an alleged photo of Khabib, aged 9, wrestling with a real bear. If you have seen the Russian go about his work in the ring, this is not entirely unbelievable.

Conversely, on the left we see a supposed young Conor McGregor, aged 9, sporting a blonde bowl haircut, holding a teddy bear.

Abdelaziz makes no bones about the fact he believes that there are levels to Khabib and Conor’s rivalry, not only demonstrating his man’s fighting blood and fearlessness, but Conor’s supposed inferior fighting pedigree.

Regardless of talk and hype, the mere possibility of a rematch between Khabib and McGregor is enough to get UFC fans excited and, with the former flying out to Dubai to discuss business with UFC top dog Dana White, anything is possible.

Their first fight was a one-sided affair, but if there is anything we know Conor to have, it’s the ability to bounce back.