Early Sunday morning, Conor McGregor tasted defeat in the UFC for the second time in three fights.

The Irish superstar was comprehensively beaten by Dustin Poirier on Fight Island at UFC 257, 'The Diamond' scoring victory by way of TKO in the second round.

Poirier's leg kicks were brutal and accurate throughout, with the 32-year-old finishing the bout with a flurry of powerful punches.

In the aftermath of McGregor's shock loss, his arch nemesis Khabib Nurmagomedov rubbed salt in the wounds on Twitter.

“This is what happened, when you change your team, leave the sparring partners, who made you a champion and sparring with little kids, far away from reality," he posted on the social media platform.

Khabib's tweet, unsurprisingly, attracted a lot of attention globally and McGregor has already responded in a press conference after his defeat to Poirier.

“My team has been the team since Day 1. I have not changed anything. It is what it is. Respect the athletes,” the Irishman said, per MMA Junkie.

“That’s the character of the man, for sure, behind the mask. Whatever, what’s he want to do? Does he want to come back or no? If he wants to have his disrespectful comments, come back and let’s go again, my man. I’m here for it. That’s fighting talk.”

It sounds as if McGregor is not considering retiring from the sport for the umpteenth time, which is refreshing to hear.

Dana White has also previously stated that he is confident Khabib will return to the UFC in search of a 30-0-0 record.

So that begs the question; will we see Khabib vs McGregor 2 in the not too distant future? It's a hard one to answer, especially after the Notorious' defeat to Poirier.

However, despite McGregor's struggles in the Octagon, the potential financial rewards of a rematch would possibly be too good to turn down for the Russian superstar.

Prior to his loss to Poirier, McGregor had discussed a potential rematch with Khabib.

“It’s a tough business, things have gone on in his personal life, I don’t wish any harm, it was 2018, a lot of time has passed,” the Notorious said, per Guardian.

“The world knows this war is not over, the sport needs it to happen, the people need it to happen. I’m not going to chase it if he doesn’t want it. I’ll keep my calm and move on.

"That’s what I’m doing, I’m back here at the 155lb division, I’ll show the world what’s what over time and that’s it. It begins against Dustin Poirier.”

Sadly, it didn't begin with Poirier and that may prove to be decisive in negotiations...