The news of Conor McGregor, the UFC’s former two-division champion, being forced to withdraw from UFC 303 is a major disappointment for fans. Scheduled after a year of tense back-and-forth discussions, McGregor’s much-anticipated comeback fight got derailed by a last-minute injury. Recently, McGregor went online and shared a pic of his injury, even the X-ray. However, this fired up many, including the UFC lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, who couldn’t resist a dig at him. Ali Abdelaziz, McGregor’s arch-nemesis and Makhachev’s manager, also hopped into the online brawl to stir the pot some more.

Islam Makhechev, the UFC’s top-ranked lightweight, didn’t hold back on social media last night. Taking a shot at Conor McGregor after the Irishman withdrew from his fight with a broken pinky toe, Makhachev wrote, “You don’t need a pinkie toe for a fight lol. Chicken.” He wasn’t done there as adding another dig at Michael Chandler, Makhachev compared the 38-year-old to Hachiko, the loyal dog waiting for his deceased owner, with a playful jab, “And my condolence to Michael ‘Hachiko’ Chandler.”

Joining the online fray, Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s former manager, Ali Abdelaziz, waded into the controversy by retweeting Makhachev’s tweet. Taking another shot at Conor McGregor, Abdelaziz wrote, “Hey Islam, all these bullsh*t people think it’s me who tweeted, brother now please give me your password let me smash all these people.”

The bad blood between Conor McGregor and Ali Abdelaziz isn’t exactly a recent development. Moreover, hardcore UFC fans know this all goes back to UFC 229 in 2018. That’s when McGregor’s trash talk went nuclear, targeting not just Khabib Nurmagomedov but also Abdelaziz, with some very serious accusations.

The origin of the beef between Conor McGregor and Ali Abdelaziz

Known for his inflammatory pre-fight speeches, Conor McGregor wasn’t shy about using boundaries in 2018. Coming off his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr., McGregor’s antics soured the atmosphere surrounding the fight. In the lead-up to the fight, McGregor’s trash talk took a sharp turn as he leveled serious accusations at Khabib’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, going beyond the usual pre-fight banter.

“His [Khabib Nurmagomedov] manager is a f*cking snitch, t*rror*st, rat and that’s it,” McGregor said, adding, “I could go into heavy detail and I will go into heavy detail! He [Ali Abdelaziz] was pulled off of a flight going from Cairo, Egypt to New York City on September 11, 2001.”

Conor McGregor didn’t slow down his accusations as he insisted Abdelaziz was caught with multiple passports and became an informant. He cast doubt on Abdelaziz’s legal status in the US and expressed his strong dislike for informants. This incident significantly heightened the existing tension between them, and they’ve continued to trade insults ever since.

It is yet to be seen how McGregor reacts to these new statements by his old foe. Meanwhile, drop your views on the ongoing X battle in the comments below.