Conor McGregor has provided fans with a positive update following surgery for the severe knee injury that derailed his long-awaited UFC return last month. The news, however, came only hours after Islam Makhachev trolled the former two-division champion.

In his return after five long years, ‘The Notorious’ suffered a torn ACL and meniscus seconds into his UFC 329 rematch with Max Holloway last month. The Irishman repeatedly collapsed while attempting to throw kicks, and the fight was called off just 69 seconds into the first round. Yesterday, McGregor took to social media to reveal that he was “off to get surgery.” Now, after successfully going under the knife, the Irishman has announced he is done with one of the biggest steps towards a comeback.

“Surgery went excellent! I am confident,” McGregor wrote on his Instagram Story hours ago.

And well, the former double champion should be confident since he has experience of going through this very same roadblock. After all, the injury McGregor suffered in his welterweight bout at UFC 329 was eerily similar to the one he experienced in his first fight with Max Holloway in 2013, when he tore his ACL and was sidelined for nearly a year before returning.

The latest surgery fits his plans, as the 38-year-old has already made it clear that he wants to return one last time before his UFC contract expires, with International Fight Week 2027 emerging as his target. And one man waiting to see it happen is none other than Islam Makhachev.

Speaking with MMA Junkie just hours before McGregor’s successful surgery update, the UFC welterweight champion took shots at ‘The Notorious’ while stating that he expects Conor McGregor to return but only “after five years.”

“Yeah, he will come back after five years. He will come back,” Makhachev said. “I heard he has one last fight under his contract. I think he’s going to fight last time, and he’s going to move to boxing or somewhere to make money.

“Maybe he spend all his money on drugs and alcohol. He needs more money.”

The brutal words by Islam Makhachev were one of his harshest assessments of Conor McGregor in years, especially given the Irishman’s recent respect for him by ranking him ahead of both Khabib Nurmagomedov and Daniel Cormier in the UFC’s all-time great debate.

But what makes Islam Makhachev’s latest dig at the Irishman truly unexpected is how differently he was speaking about ‘The Notorious’ just days ago.

Islam Makhachev shows a massive change of tone towards Conor McGregor

Following UFC 329, many expected the defending welterweight champion to mock the Irishman, whose comeback was cut short by injury at UFC 329. Instead, Islam Makhachev admitted just a week ago that he genuinely felt disappointed by how the much-awaited battle played out.

“Honestly, I feel bad, you know,” Makhachev told Complex Sports. “But I know Max’s gonna beat him, but not like fast like this, you know, in the first minute. I want to see how he fight after the five years [away] and honestly, [I] feel bad when this happened.”

Given the long-running animosity between Team Khabib and Conor McGregor, these comments were truly unexpected. While Khabib Nurmagomedov declined to discuss McGregor’s return before UFC 329, Makhachev had exchanged words with the former champion over the years, that is, until the recent dig.

So, it seems like no one truly knows what Islam Makhachev really feels about Conor McGregor, not even the Dagestani himself.

But what we do know is that with ‘The Notorious’ starting another extended rehabilitation and Makhachev preparing for his UFC 330 title defense against Ian Garry, the war of words between the two former lightweight champions, now at welterweight, seems to be far from over.