Having lost three of his last five fights inside the Octagon to Nate Diaz, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor's title as an elite MMA combatant is under threat.

One thing that isn't under threat, however, is McGregor's reputation for being one of the - if not the - best trash-talkers in the history of combat sport.

On top form, the Irishman can be hilarious viewing.  

Before McGregor stepped foot inside the Octagon, however, the undisputed king of the trash-talking game was light-heavyweight contender Chael Sonnen.

The two fighters actually had some back-and-forth banter during the build-up to the Lyoto Machida vs. Mark Munoz fight back in 2013, which McGregor seemed to enjoy, particularly as he clearly came out on top of the exchange

"Them shoes talk better than him!" the decisive blow from Notorious.

One can't help but wonder if McGregor's confidence has diminished slightly since that Lightweight Championship title loss to Khabib in 2018. Since then, we really haven't seen him at his best with the mic in hand. It's almost as if the verbal beatdowns were an intrinsic part of McGregor's preparation; something he did to force experienced opponents into making mistakes as they tried in earnest to knock the brash Irishman out (i.e. Jose Aldo). At his absolute best, McGregor is a counter-puncher after all. 

Let's take a quick look at some of McGregor's funniest comments over the years.

McGregor's Trash-Talking History

McGregor addressing the entire UFC roster in February 2016: "I need to feed all you bums. I need to feed every single one of you in the game so I’ve got to keep working. Because you bums don’t work."

McGregor goes in hard on Jose Aldo and his fanbase before their Featherweight Championship bout in 2015: “If this was a different time, I would invade his favela on horseback, and would kill anyone who wasn't fit to work, but we're in a new time, so I'll whoop his ass in July.”

Prior to the fight with Aldo, McGregor had this to say to German opponent Dennis Siver earlier in 2015: “My thoughts on Dennis Siver is that he’s a midget German steroid-head."

It's hard not to laugh at the brashness of an in-form Conor McGregor. 

Humbled McGregor

The Irishman may have toned it down a little during the build-ups to the Donald Cerrone and Dustin Poirier fights, but the gift of the gab is surely permanent, and fans of the Irishman are hoping to see him return to his comedic best during the press conferences that lead up to his next bout. 

As mentioned, the trash-talking wise guy routine seemed to play a part in the Irishman's rapid rise to fame and success both in and outside of the Octagon, and a wild, confident McGregor is a different animal altogether.

In my humble opinion, Conor needs to bring back the beast if he's to recover his best form.