Former UFC champion Conor McGregor may have announced his retirement from the sport last week, but that hasn’t kept him from lobbing insults at a former competitor in the Octagon.
On Tuesday night, McGregor took shots at the wife of his last opponent, Khabib Nurmagomedov, on Twitter, saying “Your wife is a towel mate,” while posting two photos of Nurmagomedov and his wife on their wedding day. In the pictures, Nurmagomedov’s wife’s face is covered by a hijab, the traditional headwear often worn by Muslim women while in public settings.
He later deleted the tweet, which was captured by MMA Junkie on Tuesday night.
Nurmagomedov has kept his wife’s identity private throughout his career.
McGregor also took a shot at Nurmagomedov himself, saying he might be scared of a rematch. Of course, McGregor is the one that is retired — although many around the UFC have stated in the past few days they don’t believe McGregor’s retirement is actually going to stick.
The two fought at UFC 229 in October — a fight Nurmagomedov won by fourth-round submission — and then engaged in a brawl after the fight that left both fighters suspended and fined. McGregor’s suspension will expire on Saturday. Nurmagomedov’s suspension runs through Oct. 6.
McGregor’s social media posts led lightweight contender Tony Ferguson to jump into the fray telling McGregor in a tweet “you talk to [sic] much kiddo. Shhh.”
Earlier in the day, Nurmagomedov was speaking at a university in Moscow and said “I don’t think he’s finished,” referring to McGregor and his retirement. As part of that speech, a local reporter in Moscow tweeted that Nurmagomedov also compared McGregor and his retirement to “a jealous wife who says I will leave the whole time but then comes back.”
And then later that night, McGregor apparently responded by taking a shot at Nurmagomedov’s wife instead.
The bad blood between McGregor and Nurmagomedov dates back to last April when the petulant Irishman launched an attack on a UFC bus which was transporting Nurmagomedov, several other fighters and employees of the promotion. McGregor was caught on video throwing a metal dolly into the window of a bus stationed inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Two fighters — Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg — suffered minor injuries as a result of the attack. McGregor was later arrested for his actions and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge. He received no jail time but served community service for his transgressions.
McGregor is currently facing a civil lawsuit in Florida after being charged with stealing the cellphone of someone who was trying to take his photo. He’s also being investigated for an alleged sexual assault dating back to December in his native Ireland, according to a report by The New York Times. In January, he was arrested and released after being questioned in the matter but has not been formally charged with a crime.