'Let's dance baby!' McGregor with Moscow message for Khabib, but Irishman's online jibes are futile

Conor McGrgeor commemorated one year since his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov with an insult-laden tweet to the UFC champ hinting at a Moscow rematch. But his online jibes are futile given that the Russian holds all the aces.

Twelve seems to be Conor Mcgregor's favorite number. It's his local Dublin postal district, which gave rise to half of the name of his 'Proper Twelve' whiskey brand. And now the former double UFC champ has gone out of his way to celebrate 12 months since his loss to Khabib.

A whole year ago the world watched as McGregor and Khabib met in Las Vegas to contest the most-watched MMA contest in history when the Dagestan Eagle submitted McGregor in four rounds to defend his UFC belt.

To mark the occasion a year later, ‘The Notorious’ posted a video of the moment Khabib sent him to the canvas with a thunderous overhand right, which forced the Dublin man to scramble back to his feet and continue the action.

“F*ck an 8 count let’s dance baby,” McGregor captioned the clip, with the hashtags '1 year ago' and the all-important 'Moscow’, hinting at that rematch in the Russian capital, as well as #shitinthebus #runningandshittingatthesametime, in reference to McGregor’s attack on a UFC bus carrying Khabib in Brooklyn in 2018.

In the intervening year since the fight, McGregor’s star has waned considerably from being once perhaps the most recognizable face in combat sports, and that position has been overtaken by Khabib, who has also risen to become one of the most talked about and respected athletes in the world.

McGrgeor’s jibes, like his famed and once-razor-sharp left hand, have lost some sting as his stock has plummeted since the loss and outside-of-the-octagon incidents taking effect on the 31-year-old’s progress, and with that comes a hefty loss of bargaining power.

The momentum has taken a huge swing in the favor of Makhachkala-based Khabib, with the champion now able to decide which deserving champ gets a shot at his title, with McGregor, who hasn’t fought since the loss, relegated to provoking Khabib online into giving him a rematch.

McGregor can talk all he wants but his position still remains firmly on the outside of proceedings, and his comments are apparently taking zero toll on the UFC champion, who has stoically rebuffed any talk of McGregor being in his immediate thoughts.

At the recent Synergy Global Forum in St. Petersburg, Russia, Khabib reiterated his frosty relationship with McGrgeor had not thawed and the Irishman should instead get in line for a title shot, presumably behind more-deserving fighters such as Tony Ferguson.

"I'm not ready to shake his hand right now," he said. "When a person continues to behave this way, it means that it's his nature. We saw that he recently hit a 70-year-old man. It shows a lack of morality and manners. So I'm not ready to shake his hand until he realizes something."

“Conor has to come back (and) stop hitting old people. He is a professional fighter. He should come back, win, earn his place and get in line."

Nevertheless, there has been interest quietly brewing in a return between the two in Moscow. Khabib’s father and trainer Abdulmanap “if McGregor wants it, Moscow is waiting,” to which McGregor coach John Kavanagh replied he would “love to visit Moscow”, confirming senior figures in both camps are at least interested in the idea.

McGregor has put a lot of hours into his business endeavours, including his own brand whiskey, but even that has lead to its own setbacks; McGregor is set to be hauled in front of a Dublin court for striking a senior citizen in a city center pub after he refused a shot of his 'Proper Twelve' liquor.

The incident led to a further fall from grace for McGregor, with fans growing tired of his extracurricular outings holding up his fight career. Such incidents may have added to his treasured notoriety in his heydey, but fans are now losing patience.

READ MORE: 'I'd love to visit Moscow': McGregor coach John Kavanagh up for Khabib rematch in Russian capital

For all his whimsical charms as a self-promoter and showman, McGregor seems to have forgotten altogether his poker face since his life on the periphery of the UFC power table began. It is clear for all to see that McGregor is resigned to being the joker of the pack on social media, his needling has become his card trick, while Khabib still holds all the aces going forward.

Once able to make the UFC would dance to his tune, McGregor is now playing second fiddle to Khabib, with performances in the fight arena carrying more weight than McGregor's uncanny ability to generate hype.

It's a case of the hunter becoming the hunted, and McGregor should take heed of Khabib's words and drop the shots of whiskey and social media to concentrate on a shot at the title, only this time he will have to get in line like everybody else.