"He'd have about 20 secs to nuke them with a left or lose" - Fans debate whether 'prime Conor McGregor' could've beaten Alexander Volkanovski and Islam Makhachev

MMA fans have been debating whether prime Conor McGregor would have a chance at defeating either lightweight champ Islam Makhachev or featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski.

Makhachev shocked the world when he made Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert Charles Oliveira submit in UFC 280's main-event. The Russian fighter dominated from the beginning. Alexander Volkanovski was cageside for the event and was later confirmed to be Makhachev's first title defense next year.

Volkanovski is looking to follow in Conor McGregor's footsteps and hold both the 145lbs and 155lbs belts simultaneously. 'Notorious' has taken notice, taking a shot at both fighters on Twitter:

"My two old belts. On two little ticks. This fight does 10 buys"

MMA fans have been debating McGregor's chances, with one fan believing the Irishman would have to KO both of them early or he'd stand to lose in both cases:

"In either case he'd have about 20 secs to nuke them with a left or lose"

A Reddit user's comment

Another fan stated that Conor McGregor wasn't at his peak for long, but gave him a better chance against Volkanovski than Makhachev:

"Conor had an awfully short prime, at his peak peak he would get mauled by Islam. I think Volk has a better chance than Eddie Alvarez but not sure he'd get the W. Mystic mac had them hands."

A fan giving McGregor a chance against Volkanovski

Check out more fan reactions below:

The rest of the fan reactions

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Conor McGregor and Alexander Volkanovski share respectful exchange on social media

Following UFC 280 and Alexander Volkanovki's confirmed next fight against Islam Makhachev, Conor McGregor initially took to Twitter to take shots at both fighters. In a series of deleted tweets, 'Notorious' revealed that he had developed a fighting style to defeat Dagestani wrestling.

'The Great' responded, sharing an old quote from McGregor that stated:

"Winners focus on winning. Losers focus on winners."

The Irishman replied to Volkanovski's post, confirming he was happy for the Australian fighter. McGregor also warned that he's returning to the UFC:

"Just watching and monitoring mate. That's all. Happy for you in the spot tbh. I'll be back. This is not over. You know."

'The Great' added his own respectful words to McGregor and would be happy to be his return fight in the octagon:

"Respect brother. Will be happy to welcome you back."