It also appears that he has not been affected by the usual McGregor mind games, which included a violent bus attack that landed McGregor in jail.
Nurmagomedov may be favourite, but no fighter in history has been more popular with Ladbrokes punters than McGregor and that has continued in the build-up to the bout.
McGregor accounts for over 80 per cent of the bets placed on the fight and public sentiment is clearly with him, but some big punters have jumped on the odds available for a Nurmagomedov win in the past couple of days.
WHAT TIME DOES IT START?
Conor McGregor's 693 days in the UFC wilderness will finally come to an end when the 30-year-old star steps into the Octagon to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in Las Vegas today.
Here's everything you need to know about the biggest fight in UFC history.
The first of three preliminary fights begins at 11.15am NZ-time, with the four-fight undercard scheduled to start at 1pm.
Nurmagomedov and McGregor are likely to walk to the Octagon around 4.30pm.
WHO IS FIGHTING ON THE UNDERCARD?
Main card
Lightweight championship — (Champion) Khabib Nurmagomedov (Russia) vs (1) Conor McGregor (Ireland)
Lightweight — (2) Tony Ferguson (US) vs (8) Anthony Pettis (US)
Light heavyweight — (7) Ovince St Preux (US) vs (12) Dominick Reyes (US)
Heavyweight — (2) Derrick Lewis (US) vs (5) Alexander Volkov (Russia)
Flyweight — (2) Sergio Pettis (US) vs (5) Jussier Formiga (Brazil)
Welterweight — Vicente Luque (US) vs Jalin Turner (US)
Women's bantamweight — (9) Aspen Ladd (US) vs Tonya Evinger (US)
Lightweight — Scott Holtzman (US) vs Alan Patrick (Brazil)
Preliminary card
Women's bantamweight —(12) Lina Lansberg (Sweden) vs Yana Kunitskaya (Russia)
Lightweight — Gray Maynard (US) vs Nik Lentz (US)
Welterweight — Ryan LaFlare (US) vs Tony Martin (US)
WHAT'S MCGREGOR BEEN UP TO?
It is a very different-looking UFC to the one he knew before walking away after his UFC 205 TKO stoppage of former lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez.
He returns as a challenger, fighting to steal a rival's belt for the first time since his emphatic first round knockout of Jose Aldo in 2015.
He hasn't fought in the Octagon since that win over Alvarez, but McGregor continued to find new ways to dominate the headlines.
His return answers UFC boss Dana White's prayers.
As this timeline below shows, it's not hard to see why McGregor-Nurmagomedov is widely tipped to smash the UFC's pay-per-view record.
2016
November 12 — McGregor scores second round TKO victory over Eddie Alvarez to be crowned the UFC's lightweight champion, becoming the fight promotion's first ever reigning world champion across two divisions.
November 26 — McGregor is stripped of the UFC featherweight championship belt due to inactivity. McGregor never defended his featherweight championship after his incredible knockout of Jose Aldo in December, 2015.
December 1 — McGregor is handed a boxing license by the California State Athletic Commission.
2017
May 5 — McGregor and girlfriend Dee Devlin celebrate the birth of their first child, Conor Jack McGregor.
June 14 — McGregor's much-hyped boxing showdown with Floyd Mayweather is finally confirmed with the pair agreeing to financial terms.
August 26 — McGregor loses in his boxing debut to Floyd Mayweather via a 10th round TKO. Despite the Mayweather fight being his only fight for the year, McGregor rockets to No. 4 on Forbes' highest paid athletes for 2017 list with estimated earnings of $US99 million.
November 10 — McGregor storms the cage at Bellator 187 and shoves two officials, including referee Marc Goddard, after all hell breaks loose following Charlie Ward's first round TKO of John Redmond in Dublin. McGregor later apologises. McGregor raced into the cage to celebrate with Ward, but was ordered to get out because Goddard had not stopped the fight yet (despite Ward dropping Redmond with a heavy blow).
November 29 — McGregor reportedly has threats made against his life by an Irish crime cartel. The UFC star was alleged to have punched a man with ties to Kinahan crime family lieutenant Graham "The Wig" Whelan — one of the country's most feared gangsters who was a key player in a long-running feud which claimed 16 lives in the early 2000s. The incident occurred during a disagreement between two groups of men at the Black Forge Inn in Crumlin, Dublin.
2018
April 3 — McGregor's teammate Artem Lobov and Khabib Nurmagomedov become embroiled in a heated argument inside a New York hotel ahead of their fights at UFC 223. Nurmagomedov and McGregor had earlier traded insults through social media and in media interviews with the new Russian champion declaring the UFC was protecting McGregor by keeping him away from Nurmagomedov. After trading angry sledges during their hotel disagreement, Nurmagomedov reportedly had to be pulled away from Lobov before the situation threatened to boil over.
April 5 — McGregor attacks an entire bus of UFC stars inside New York's Barclays Centre stadium. The Irish superstar was caught on video throwing a trolley and a bin at the window of a bus after spotting Khabib Nurmagomedov sitting on the transport following a series of interviews at the UFC's main press day for the UFC 223 event. Lightweight fighter Michael Chiesa needed medical treatment after suffering several lacerations from the broken glass windows. Star Rose Namajunas was among several fighters to be left shaken up by the incident Dana White labelled "the most disgusting thing that has ever happened in the history of the company". Chiesa and flyweight Ray Borg were both pulled from the UFC event after being medically ruled out because of injuries suffered in the attack. McGregor turned himself in to New York police and was initially charged with three counts of misdemeanour assault and one count of criminal mischief.
April 6 — McGregor is released from police custody on $US50,000 bail at an arraignment and ordered to stay away from every UFC fighter that was inside the bus at the time of his attack.
April 7 —McGregor is stripped of his lightweight title due to inactivity following Khabib Nurmagomedov's win over Al Iaquinta at UFC 223. Tony Ferguson was initially scheduled to face Nurmagomedov but was forced to withdraw with a knee injury.
June 8 — McGregor appears in a Brooklyn courtroom where he reads out a statement to announce that he regrets his actions during the UFC 223 media day bus attack. McGregor's legal team confirm they are considering a plea deal from the district attorney's office. Judge Raymond Rodiguez sets a new court date of July 26 to hear the charges against McGregor.
July 26 — McGregor accepts a plea deal which allows him to avoid jail time. He pleads guilty in court to a charge of disorderly conduct. His other charges are dropped. He is ordered to complete three days of anger management education and five days of community service.
August 3 — The UFC announces McGregor will return to the Octagon to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC lightweight belt at UFC 229 on October 7 (AEST) in Las Vegas.
September 12 — UFC fighter Michael Chiesa announces he's suing Conor McGregor over the Irish fighter's infamous bus attack. Chiesa missed a fight with Anthony Pettis after suffering injuries while sitting on a UFC bus as McGregor threw a trolley at the vehicle's window. Chiesa's lawsuit reportedly seeks damages for causing "severe emotional distress, mental trauma and/or bodily harm".
September 21 — McGregor goes rogue during his first UFC 229 official press conference in New York where he slams the fight promotion for not inviting fans to attend and hijacks the conference to promote his new whiskey brand. He also says he would have killed Nurmagomedov if the Dagestani had have stepped off the bus to face him during his bus attack in New York.
October 5 — McGregor arrives late again for the official UFC 229 press conference in Las Vegas, so Nurmagomedov leaves early.
