‘Let’s go Russia!’ Conor McGregor grapples with local language as he launches whiskey in Khabib’s homeland (VIDEO)

UFC megastar-turned-whiskey entrepreneur Conor McGregor has announced the arrival of his ‘Proper No. Twelve’ tipple on Russian soil, even making a mangled attempt at the local lingo to herald the product’s launch.

McGregor’s whiskey empire has gone from strength to strength since he launched the brand following his defeat to Floyd Mayweather Jr in their blockbuster boxing bout in 2017.

The whiskey – named after the suburb of Crumlin, postcode Dublin 12, from which McGregor hails – is sold around the world and has helped the former two-weight UFC world champion add to the riches he has amassed from his fighting career.

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And while Russia may be a land more commonly associated with vodka, that has not deterred McGregor from his pursuit of extending his whiskey dominance there.

“Na zdorovye Rossiya (To your health, Russia!),” shouts a suited McGregor at the start of a clip posted to his Twitter account, as he makes a somewhat toe-curling attempt at Russian.

“The proper Irishman has landed,” the 31-year-old continues.

“Russia, you guys asked for it and the founder and chairman of Proper No. Twelve, the ‘Notorious’ Conor McGregor, has delivered," McGregor then booms, beating his chest. 

“Proper No. Twelve on Russian soil, let’s go Russia.”

While McGregor’s business interests appear healthy since he launched his whiskey more than two years ago, his fighting fortunes have declined in the ensuing period.

McGregor was defeated by Russian UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov in his last octagon outing in Las Vegas 12 months ago.

The brash Irishman has been angling for a return bout with the unbeaten Dagestani fighter in recent weeks, tweeting “book my rematch for Moscow” following Nurmagomedov’s victory over Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi in September.

However, this week Nurmagomedov shut down any chance of that happening in the immediate future, saying over the weekend that McGregor needs to “stop hitting old men and get in line” – referring to an incident in which the Irishman allegedly hit a man in a Dublin pub earlier this year.

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Instead, Nurmagomedov touted Tony Ferguson as his next opponent, potentially in March or April of next year in front of 70,000 fans at Gazprom Arena.

For now, at least, it seems that McGregor’s whiskey sales are more likely to bring him to Russia, rather than any chance of facing his Dagestani nemesis Nurmagomedov.