Alexander Volkanovski has leapt to the defence of viral internet sensation Hasbulla Magomedov following his back-and-forth with Conor McGregor.
After ignoring Hasbulla's call-outs for what seems like months now, McGregor finally decided to fire back – although his response wasn't particularly pleasant.
He tweeted: "I’d love to boot that little g**p Hasbulla over a goal post."
"How much to get him on the volley? I’m gonna make it my mission to score a 3 pointer with him one day, hon the gaa."
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Taking a below-the-belt shot, McGregor added: "Little smelly inbred."
The series of tweets exploded before the Irishman quickly deleted them.
McGregor's dig was pretty brutal - even he probably realised how bad it was - and screenshots of the cruel tweets spread like wildfire across social media.
Those screenshots clearly made their way to reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski who wasted no time in coming out to bat for his good pal Hasbulla.
"You’ll have to go through me first, leave my mate alone @TheNotoriousMMA," Volkanovski tweeted."
Overall, the Aussie's show of support received huge backing from his followers.
But there was one bloke, of course, who tried to rinse the 145-pound champ while he was simply trying to defend his friend.
The person commented: "Good to see hobbits sticking with each other. You got cast in the new Lord of the rings show yet mate?"
To which Volkanovski replied: "Yeah we stick together… Gimli to the rescue!"
It remains to be seen whether McGregor, probably chilling on some super-yacht somewhere, responds to Volkanovski – although given their frosty history it's more than likely he will.
In the wake of Volkanovski's impressive title defence over Brian Ortega at UFC 266, McGregor rattled off another tweet, saying: "I'd kick this Volkanovski head off like it was a rugby ball I was kicking. 5'4 and full of muscle! Hahahah little fart he is. Not even a little fart. A shart hahahah jackass."
When asked if he'd seen the comments, the Aussie replied: "I heard about it. Sounds like he's on the piss. Good on him, I will be too," Volkanovski said during his press conference.
"Something about sharting, farting, it didn't really make sense.
"It's Conor doing Conor things, good on him. I don't know if he wants to come back down to 145 (pounds) - well, obviously that'll never happen."
Earlier this year, Volkanovski also ranked McGregor at the very bottom of his pound-for-pound rankings among past featherweight champions.
“I believe I’ve still got more work to do [to be the greatest]. I give [Jose] Aldo the respect. To be champion for as long as he was, he’s incredible. No matter the opposition that I’m facing like himself, Max [Holloway] and that, I’m fighting absolute killers, it’s pretty clear,” he said.
“But at the same time, to be champion that long — there’s gonna be days you don’t show up, bad weight cuts, injuries, you name it. We’ve all done it and it’s a nightmare to not be on, on a day where you’ve got to go out there and defend your belt. For him to be a champion for so long, that’s saying something.”
During his tour Down Under, Hasbulla seems to have struck up a friendship with the UFC's recently-crowned pound-for-pound king.
In one video posted online, the two were sharing a lovely meal together before Hasbulla chucked a big sloppy burger right in Volkanovski's face.
The clip instantly went viral with MMA supporters and Hasbulla super-fans and loving it.
Topics: Australia, MMA, UFC, Hasbulla Magomedov, Conor McGregor, Alexander Volkanoski
Max Sherry