‘Don't count me out’: Boastful McGregor aiming to top Messi again in next Forbes rich list as Argentine prepares for PSG debut

UFC icon Conor McGregor has laid down the gauntlet to football superstar Lionel Messi, and set himself the challenge of once again topping the Forbes highest-paid athletes list ahead of the six-time Ballon d'Or winner.

Currently recovering from a horror leg break after his last fight, a first round defeat to Dustin Poirier, the Irishman posted to Instagram from the Beverly Hills hotel in Los Angeles and showed his support to "bro" Sergio Ramos by wearing a PSG home shirt in a photo with a youngster donning their away counterpart.

"It's crazy how this team has scooped all these incredible players up, and in such quick succession too," he began – in reference to how the Qatari-backed giants obtained the likes of the ex-Real Madrid captain, Gini Wijnaldum and Euro 2020 winner Gianluigi Donnarumma on free transfers in this window.

"Messi is on $75 million a year, flat. Not including endorsements on top," he said of the biggest coup of all, who left FC Barcelona as a free agent.

"He [will] be hard to beat this year on the Forbes list without one more fight in the book," McGregor admitted.

"But that said don’t count me out. We are only two months into this new Forbes fiscal year and I already have his year's wage boxed off," he signed off, along with a manic "hahaahahahaha"

'Notorious' also shared screenshots of topping said list earlier this year for 2020-2021 earnings of $180 million greatly enhanced by the sale of his stake in his Proper No. Twelve whiskey brand.

Here, however, he claims to have already matched or perhaps even topped Messi's salary for the next year at the Parc des Princes in his last bout with Poirier.

In one of the most-awaited debuts in sports history, Messi will finally take to the pitch for his new club on Sunday evening in France after making Mauricio Pochettino's squad for the trip to Reims.

Never one to be upstaged by his generational rival, however, Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to make his own seismic move this summer and has rejoined former club Manchester United on a two-year deal that will pay him a reported $660,000 a week or around $34 million per year.

A United fan who has posted pictures of a young Mac donning a Red Devils shirt, McGregor took to Twitter to congratulate the Portuguese and their shared club of choice after the move was announced.

Also yesterday, McGregor celebrated a "momentous" day.

Sharing a video to his 42 million Instagram followers as proof, he "walked for the first time since surgery" and his horror injury at UFC 264 while "bearing 50% of my big body weight".

"A long way to go yet but a massive personal boost for me today!"

"Thank you all for the continued support everyone God bless, happy Saturday," he concluded.