Conor McGregor has certainly had a successful year. The Irish-born mixed martial arts fighter is estimated to have earned just shy of $100 million in last year, and isn't exactly quiet about it. Always getting into trouble and with a hell of a lot of bravado to boot, he's become one of the biggest stars in the sport for a reason.

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In 2017, McGregor was the most searched athlete on Google in the US, undoubtedly because of his recent forays into unexplored avenues. He even stepped out of the sport to take on Floyd Mayweather in the boxing ring, with the event becoming the highest-grossing fight of all time. And while he lost, he looks like he's living pretty well off the stupendous amount of money he made, and is happy to go in the ring for a re-match.

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Back in November, at Glasgow's An Evening with the Notorious Conor McGregor, he spoke about Mayweather and his odds at beating him in the future:

"What’s sickening me is that the little [expletive] is retired now. That’s what sickening me.

"I know if I went another go with him, under boxing rules, I'd get that win. I know that. I know after feeling him in that first fight, he had to change his whole approach. He couldn't figure out what I was doing early on. I feel with the lessons I learned, if I had another go around, I'd get it."

"Originally he [Mayweather] said an MMA bout next. He was talking about an MMA fight next," McGregor continued. "That's what he said before the fight. So, what’s that about?"

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However, whether or not Mayweather and McGregor reunite to fight it out in one sport or another, McGregor still has plenty of work to get on with. Next month he will be facing off against Khabib Nurmagomedov, the current UFC lightweight champion.

UFC 229 takes place on October 6, and will see McGregor's fight headline the night. McGregor captured the lightweight title at UFC 205 back in 2016, but never defended the title, as he took time off last year due to the birth of his first son. It looks to be a popular night for fans of the sport, and an intense match between the two champions.

However, there hasn't exactly been much fanfare so far - at least, until McGregor released this montage of his training for the fight:

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In the clip above, which the star shared without a caption to his Instagram page, McGregor can be seen doing drills, sparring, and conditioning.

Dropping this training montage may be the beginning of the hype cycle, but so far neither McGregor nor Nurmagomedov has said much about the fight. The UFC is reportedly frustrated with the lack of promotion over the upcoming fight, but this is likely to change once the first press conference comes around, knowing McGregor's personality.

There's a reason that Conor McGregor is one of the biggest stars in UFC, and it's not all down to his prowess once he gets inside the octagon.

The man also has the knack for marketing himself and landing himself big name fights in the meantime. And when he gets these fights, you know that he is going to make the build-up to the event as over-the-top and entertaining for the fans as possible.

There's not many UFC athletes who would down whiskey in the middle of a press conference, nor get so carried away as to throw a dolly through the window of a coach in a fit of anger.

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The Irish fighter's temper definitely gets the best of him sometimes, and his penchant for trash talk tends to go over the line for even some of his ardent fans' tastes, but it has definitely seen him forge a successful career in the sport.

Following UFC 229 last weekend, where his fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov quickly got out of hand, his coach opened up about what went down that night - and even touched upon how his trash talk does him a lot of favours.

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John Kavanagh was speaking on Joe Rogan's podcast when he spoke about McGregor's use of trash talk before fights, both as a technique and just as a natural part of his personality:

"Conor's a divider. Some people love it and some people hate it. I'm not really interested in people's opinions, I'm more interested in what is, and what is is that sells fights. There's a reason he's the highest paid guy. That's natural for him to do too, it's not an act.

"It's just part of the game for him, he enjoys it, it's a bit of fun."

"I just thank the Lord Jesus Christ that that man doesn't have the balls to step off that bus, this man would be dead right now," McGregor said at their first press conference, referencing the time he attacked the coach Nurmagomedov was on. "He would be in a box and I would be in a cell and we would not have this great fight ahead of us."

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Soon after, he was promising that he'd take down Khabib with a "devastating KO". However, it didn't quite turn out that way. After seeing McGregor's absolute confidence in his ability to beat Khabib prior to the actual event, you would think he's feeling pretty bad about himself right now. But it looks like he's taken the defeat on the chin.

McGregor stayed relatively silent following the fight, even after chaos broke out leading to the arrest of three men. His first tweet said that he was "looking forward to the rematch," and that's not the only statement he's put out there.

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In a new tweet, showing McGregor drinking what is likely his trademark whiskey, Proper Twelve, he said: "We lost the match but won the battle. The war goes on."

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So, while McGregor was taken out in the fourth round of this fight, it looks like he's got plenty more in him - and sees another fight with Nurmagomedov in his future.

Conor McGregor brings a lot of skill when he fights in competitive mixed martial arts matches, but that's not all he brings to the octagon. His talent for trash-talk is not just an off-shoot of his unique personality, but an actual tool he apparently uses to throw opponents off.

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In a conversation on Joe Rogan's podcast recently, McGregor's coach, John Kavanagh, spoke about his client's approach to the game. As well as going into his perspective on the absolute chaos that ensued at UFC 229 earlier this month, Kavanagh spoke to the trash talk that sparked up Khabib Nurmagomedov's anger:

"Conor's a divider. Some people love it and some people hate it. I'm not really interested in people's opinions, I'm more interested in what is, and what is is that sells fights. There's a reason he's the highest paid guy. That's natural for him to do too, it's not an act. It's just part of the game for him, he enjoys it, it's a bit of fun."

McGregor definitely knows how to sell a fight, getting every UFC fan interested in whatever he's up to next - and he definitely has a talent for bouncing back after a defeat. Despite his loss to Floyd Mayweather in the ring last year and his fourth-round defeat at Khabib's hand, he's quick to jump into the spotlight, even looking for a rematch.

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This week, the Irish fighter was in front of a huge crowd once again - this time in the states. He attended the Dallas Cowboys game on Sunday, as a special guest of the owner, Jerry Jones. There, he posed for photos and met members of the team - but the part the internet clung onto was the way he threw a football.

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Many fans pointed out his terrible throwing form and mocked him for it relentlessly. "I think McGregor picked the right sport," one user wrote, while another added: "Conor McGregor has never thrown a football before".

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McGregor responded to all these jokes on his own Instagram, sharing an image of the day, and calling those who were poking fun at him "f***ing ruthless". Apparently, his technique was off because he was wearing a jacket, and didn't want to rip it. He wrote:

"Hahaha yous’r f***ing ruthless on this side. I just didn’t want to rip my custom @augustmcgregor baby blue billionaire blazer.
That was all, y’all.

"Great job to the Cowboys today! It’s a Proper giddy up tonight in Dallas and I LOVE IT, see yous soon."

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McGregor seems to be in high spirits given the fact that he (along with Khabib) has been temporarily suspended from his sport.

However, the Nevada State Athletic Commission are still investigating exactly what happened on October 6, and there won't be any concrete decisions made until the hearing on October 24. After what went down inside the octagon that night, he may want a little break from the sport anyway...

It's been over five months since the now-infamous UFC 229, in which the real fight was upstaged by a chaotic scuffle inside and outside the octagon. Conor McGregor was decisively beaten by his opponent, Khabib Nurmagomedov, despite the months of trash talk he and his team had spread.

It's part and parcel for McGregor, who utilises his insults, jibes and self-promotion as a sort of superpower - and he's got the money to back it up. The Irish fighter's coach, John Kavanagh, said as much in an interview with Joe Rogan in October, where he spoke about Conor's penchant for messing with his opponents:

"Conor's a divider. Some people love it and some people hate it. I'm not really interested in people's opinions, I'm more interested in what is, and what is is that sells fights. There's a reason he's the highest paid guy. That's natural for him to do too, it's not an act."

"It's just part of the game for him, he enjoys it, it's a bit of fun."

It's not like he's let up since his fight with Khabib, either. Within minutes of thanking the Nevada Athletic Commission for dealing with him fairly after his temporary ban from the sport, he still hyped up the fact he got the "final blow of the night" during the post-match brawl.

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He's still talking about that fight, months later - but there's even older fights that he still hasn't had the final word on.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. isn't a stranger to hyping himself up or mocking his opponents, so there was a lot of talk before the boxer took on McGregor for their insanely lucrative fight in 2017. But Conor still has something to say about it.

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It all started when Twitter user 'mmaballer13' posted a gif from the Mayweather fight, depicting a slow-motion look at some of McGregor's best hits of the night. "That fight was completely Conor's fight through 8.5 rounds," they wrote. "Dang. So close. Rematch anyone?"

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That's when Conor, no stranger to weighing in on his fights on social media, jumped into the fray. Retweeting the post, he added:

"I spoiled it with the rush right hook here. The angle was made. He was in the dirt. I just had to set correctly into my feet and fire. Rushing the right hook I lost balance on my back hand. Great boxing fight! A rematch will be interesting no doubt."

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Of course, the thing that piqued most UFC fans' interest was that last comment, in which McGregor made it sound like a rematch may actually be on the way.

He's said in the past that a rematch would be on his turf in the octagon, where he would undoubtedly have a great advantage, but it's unclear whether Mayweather will opt for another boxing match instead. Or, maybe he'll end up taking on Khabib again instead.

Ever since he entered the boxing ring with Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas in August, it would be safe to say that Conor McGregor has been in the headlines for his escapades out of the ring rather than in it. The UFC fighter, who made the unheard of switch from the octagon to the ring received an astronomical amount of money for the fight, and he certainly seems to be enjoying it.

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Since the now-infamous, but slightly disappointing, fight, McGregor has been getting himself into all sorts of trouble. Within months of the bout, there were rumours that the fighter fled his native Ireland after getting into a punch-up with a bunch of gangsters from the Irish cartel. Then, on top of the rumoured violence, it was reported that Conor had begun a wild and shocking affair with the pop singer Rita Ora.

Despite his denial regarding both of the stories, McGregor has continued to cause drama wherever he goes. He's been in court for speeding fines and also starred in quite possibly the most bizarre commercial ever made - check it out below.

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However, another story has also coincided with his hiatus from the Octagon: a rematch. That's right, according to various reports (not to mention Mayweather himself), a potential rematch may be on the cards - but this time it will be in the Octagon.

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"Everything takes time. Eventually, we’re gonna apply for the license, and hopefully, we can fight," said Mayweather.

"Even if it takes 6 to 8 months – whatever it takes. We want to make sure that everything is done correctly, and everything is done the right way."

It's not just Mayweather who has spoken about a potential re-match. Dana White, president of the UFC, also weighed in on the subject.

"We’re talking to Floyd about doing a UFC deal. It's real. He was talking about [boxing] Conor McGregor. Was that real? Have you heard Floyd talk about many things that aren’t real? He usually tips his hand when he's in the media, and then that sh*t ends up happening.

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"We're interested in doing something with Floyd. Everything is a realistic possibility. Mayweather vs. McGregor f*cking happened.

"Anything is possible."

While McGregor hasn't said too much regarding the issue - other than posting the odd photoshopped image of him beating up Mayweather, he recently took to his Twitter account to upload an image which suggests that he may be ready to return to the fight game.

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Simply captioning the image with the Irish flag and a flexed bicep, McGregor can be seen in his signature green shorts and looking pretty sweaty.

While there were a lot of users who were simply buzzing to see the return of "The Notorious" as well as taking time to wreck him for not fighting in the past few months, there was also plenty of people who were more than thirsty for a bit of the Crumlin-born fighter.

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Are we about to see the return of McGregor? Let's hope so. But, if we do, let's pray that it's a lot more entertaining than his fight with Mayweather.