UFC 267: Conor McGregor takes aim at Islam Makhachev after he beats Dan Hooker before deleting post

Conor McGregor took a pop at Islam Makhachev in a now-deleted Twitter post following the latter’s victory against Dan Hooker at UFC 267. 

The Russian – trained by UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov – produced a stunning display inside Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena on Saturday, needing just two minutes and 25 seconds to force a first-round submission victory.

New Zealand fighter Hooker was able to put up little resistance as Makhachev extended his unbeaten run to nine fights.

It was a fleeting main card event, and two-weight world champion McGregor did not take long to comment after the 30-year-old’s victory in the octagon.

The Notorious wrote in a post that was deleted shortly afterwards: ‘He his uncles cousins son and you can tell. Congrats cuz cuz.’ 

Sportsmail have contacted Makhachev for comment. 

It is not the first time this month the Irishman has taken to Twitter to launch insults and then delete his comments, after an extremely insulting jibe at the people of Dagestan in a spat with arch rival Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz.

McGregor and Nurmagomedov’s fight UFC 229 in October 2018 was intense with the latter – who retired with a 29-0 record in March – winning via a fourth-round submission.

Makhachev delivered a stunning performance to defeat Dan Hooker within three minutes

The 30-year-old had been training with UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov in lead up to fight

Since then, the duo’s camps of have taken every opportunity presented to them to take shots at each other. McGregor also openly mocked UFC legend Daniel Cormier on Twitter during UFC 265 before again getting rid of the post.

Makhachev meanwhile told Cormier in his post-fight interview that he should be given the chance at the next lightweight title shot, having earned nine consecutive wins since his shock defeat by Adriano Martins at UFC 192 in October 2015

‘Now it’s time,’ Makhachev said. ‘This guy is (ranked) number six … nine-fight win streak. I’m ready for a title fight.’

Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler are also in contention to challenge the next titleholder, with the duo set to face each other at UFC 268 next weekend. 

Meanwhile, defending champion Charles Oliveira will face No.1 contender Dustin Poirier at UFC 269 on 11 December.

Conor McGregor on the other hand remains out of action due to the broken leg he suffered during his trilogy bout against Poirier at UFC 264 in July. But he left fans stunned last week after revealing he had bulked up ahead of his return.

McGregor and Khabib’s camps have regularly had spats since their meeting in October 2018