Khabib cemented his spot at the summit of the rankings following his defeat of Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 last month after he submitted the American challenger in the second round of their world title bout on 'Fight Island'.

Immediately afterwards, a tearful Nurmagomedov announced his retirement from the sport - but not before asking the UFC to consolidate his spot at the top of the promotion's open-weight rankings.

"It was my last fight here. I know only one thing I want from UFC," Khabib said to UFC commentator Jon Anik in the cage. "You guys have to put me number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world because I deserve this."

The UFC duly obliged, elevating Khabib above Jon Jones in to the top spot where it was presumed he would remain for some time. 

However, as of Saturday there has been a change. As has been pointed out on Twitter by an array of fight fans, Khabib has lost his top spot - and has been replaced by his arch-rival Conor McGregor, the Irishman who was defeated by Khabib in Las Vegas in 2018. 

And yes, the same listing of McGregor as number one is listed on the Russian version of the UFC homepage. Khabib, meanwhile, had fallen to third position.

Questions will now be asked as to exactly how, or why, the change was made. McGregor has competed just once since his defeat to Khabib at UFC 229, defeating Donald Cerrone in a 40-second shellacking in January - but even the Dubliner's most ardent of supporters would struggle to make a case suggesting that McGregor's recent body of work is enough to place him in the top spot.

So if not an administrative error, what else? Could one of McGregor's army of supporters have 'hacked' the UFC website to alter their hero's ranking - or have the UFC demoted Khabib in their official rankings following his retirement, and filled the gap with his most heated rival?

Time will tell on that front but for now, on computer screens at least, McGregor can lay claim to being the sport's top pound-for-pound fighter. The internet says so.