THE talk is over and all that’s left is a Russian, a Dagestani to be exact, and an Irishman who will try and belt the life out of each other in front of the world.

There is no love lost between the two fighters and the bout is one of the most eagerly-anticipated in the UFC after confrontations between the two camps and a violent incident in Brooklyn in April.

Some are calling it the biggest fight in UFC and given the scenes at the public weigh-ins it’s easy to see why.

Conor McGregor likes to say he brings his country with him wherever he goes and they’ve turned up again – it seems as though all of Ireland has descended on Las Vegas for Sunday’s bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229.

A seething, singing and well and truly oiled up sea of green humanity flooded into the T-Mobile Arena and if there were any Nurmagomedov fans in the 15,000 strong crowd we must consider them lost, presumed drowned.

DETAILS

WHAT: McGregor v Khabib UFC 229

WHERE: Las Vegas - TMobil Arena

WHEN: Card starts 9am AEST Sunday Oct 7

MAIN CARD: From 1pm

TV: IN australia order it on Main Event HERE
MAIN CARDKhabib Nurmagomedov v Conor McGregor — UFC lightweight title

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The green sea crashed on Nurmagomedov all at once when he stood in front of the fans for the final time, but the roars seemed to bounce off the stoic grappler.

All week Nurmagomedov has seemed nonplussed by McGregor’s antics and the fanaticism of his supporters.

He left Thursday’s press conference early once it became clear McGregor would once again show up late and has generally refused to engage the master sledger.

It’s a wise move – the likes of Jose Aldo and Eddie Alvarez were, in part, undone by the barrage of insults McGregor so loves to dish out.

Nurmagomedov has filled his side of the bargain perfectly all week. Taking on McGregor in the verbal department is a battle he will always lose.

But just about everything McGregor has spit over the past week has been blocked back into the pitch. If there are any cracks they are well hidden.

McGregor tried to fire his last few bullets as the two faced off, launching a kick at Nurmagomedov as the two were separated. But even then Nurmagomedov remained stoic, and promised the crowd he was going to “smash your boy”.

The Irishman has revelled in returning to the sport that made him famous while retaining the ostentatious touches that make him unique – rap megastar Drake was part of his entourage.

The cash-fuelled madness of last year’s bout with Mayweather now seems a distant memory and a bad dream.

These fights and these moments are what McGregor has dreamed into reality and the ones that can make him a legend of combat sports.

He’s taking on a wrecking machine, a 26-0 automaton that has never lost a round in the UFC and grew up wrestling bears, but when the Irishman roared before his adoring faithful it truly seemed as though there was nowhere else he’d rather be.

Las Vegas is a city where there’s always something else going on but at the centre of the throng it was difficult to escape the feeling that the whole world really was watching.

This is spectacle meeting sport at it’s finest – the sheer size of the event matched only by the prowess of the two fighters. At the time of writing Nurmagomedov was still a slight favorite but the money keeps coming for McGregor.

Once the show was over the Irish horde flooded back into the streets, singing songs, beating drums, sinking beers and spreading good-natured mayhem all over the Strip.