Getting their GOAT: McGregor triggers Khabib, Diaz into Twitter barbs after Irishman's 'all-time greats of MMA' list

Conor McGregor's list of all-time MMA greats - in which he placed himself second - has triggered a rise from former octagon foes Khabib Nurmagomedov and Nate Diaz, both of whom took to Twitter to land blows on the Irishman.

McGregor tweeted out his take on the list of MMA GOATs on Saturday, placing himself second behind former longtime middleweight champion Anderson Silva - but adding that he would "easily" be top of the pile by the time he concludes his octagon career.

Further down the table, The Notorious placed Canadian former two-weight champ Georges St-Pierre in third, with reigning light heavyweight king Jon Jones in fourth.

McGregor's ratings rankled with many though, mostly over his claims to such an exalted position for himself.

Russian nemesis Khabib - who famously submitted the Dubliner in the fourth round of their lightweight title fight in 2018 -  was among those to hit out online. 

"You tapped out in featherweight, you tapped out in lightweight and you tapped in welterweight," read a scathing tweet from the Dagestani (or someone from his team) on Twitter.   

"You never defended title in the UFC or Cage Warriors, you gave up more than GSP, Spider [Anderson] and Bones [Jones] all together. you greatest @ufc fighter in twitter history."

Another man to take issue was veteran brawler Nate Diaz - who submitted McGregor in a huge upset at UFC 196 back in 2016, having stepped in at 11 days' notice to take the fight. 

"Smoked the #1 p4p and double champ know the real when you see him," Diaz tweeted. 

"And don’t for get I did it better and quicker than anyone else on the ground and sent him down with punches quicker than Mayweather did so f*ck alll y’all rankings and know a real goat when you see me." 

But the McGregor-induced barbs didn't stop there. When Diaz added in a subsequent tweet that he was pound-for-pound "the baddest mother*cker here," that led welterweight rival Jorge Masvidal - who defeated Diaz to win the inaugural 'BMF' belt in November - to back up that claim in a rematch. 

Meanwhile, the man fourth on McGregor's list - Jon Jones - said he was content to sit back and "let the fans decide," but also couldn't resist a bit of stirring.

McGregor made a spectacular return to the octagon in January, defeating Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone just 40 seconds into their welterweight bout at UFC 246.

The former 'champ champ' has signaled he is next ready for action this summer, having praised the UFC for its organization of several cards during the Covid-19 sporting shutdown.   

The Irishman has repeatedly said his ultimate aim is a rematch with 155lbs ruler Khabib, in a bid to avenge his galling 2018 loss. 

Pull that off, and McGregor's GOAT rankings might sit a little better with MMA observers.