Last month, the UFC’s lightweight champion found himself on the receiving end of a bizarre call out from the from the former WBO welterweight titleholder.

Pacquiao revealed his eagerness to lock horns with 'The Notorious' in posts on his Twitter and Instagram accounts, which featured a snap of the Irishman relaxing on a chair.

The accompanying captions read: “Happy Thanksgiving @TheNotoriousMMA Stay fit my friend. #realboxingmatch #2018.”

Pacquiao’s call out of McGregor once again highlighted the fact that the UFC’s poster boy has a host of options available to him for his next fight. 

And if Bisping was in McGregor’s shoes, he’d go all out to secure a fight with Pacquaio, which would bring him yet another multi-million-pound payday. 

“Conor’s yet to defend his lightweight belt, we don’t know if he’ll do that”, Bisping said during a recent episode of his Believe You Me podcast. “Manny Pacquiao’s calling him out for a boxing fight – that would do huge numbers.”

“If I was Conor. . . .when Dana said what he said last week, what he probably means by that is in the UFC. If I’m Conor, I take the Pacquiao fight all day long.”

Should McGregor fail to land a bout with Pacquiao, Bisping believes he should turn his attention to settling the score with Paulie Malignaggi.

“Or even fucking Malignaggi! He’s been talking s**t. There’s a good possibility [that Conor beats Paulie],” he added. 

“That’s a better opponent for Conor as a boxer than Floyd Mayweather or Pacquiao are.

“If I’m Conor, I can go fight a killer in Khabib [Nurmagomedov] or Tony Ferguson for ten or fifteen million.”

McGregor, 21-3, hasn’t set foot inside the Octagon since claiming the UFC’s lightweight title in the main event of UFC 205, a card which saw him create history by becoming the first fighter in the promotion’s history to hold two titles simultaneously.

His first fight back in the promotion is expected to be a lightweight title unification fight with interim 155lbs champion Ferguson.