Conor McGregor has been accused of copying his pal Dillon Danis in his latest attack on Khabib Nurmagomedov by a former lightweight title challenger.
Al Iaquinta, who Nurmagomedov beat to win the 155lb title and set up his infamous 2018 clash with McGregor, joked that the Irishman was using Danis' tactics in his latest verbal tirade against his old rival. The Irishman took to Twitter on Wednesday night to let out a number of angry messages and claim that he was "chilling" after being choked out in his fight with Nurmagomedov.
McGregor shared a picture of himself slumped against the cage after losing by fourth-round submission in their UFC 229 meeting, which was the biggest fight in MMA history. He captioned it by claiming that he wasn't as badly beaten on the night as it appeared when it was happening.
"The lion king chills," he wrote in a tweet that has stayed on his timeline, unlike most of his other late-night ramblings that are quickly deleted. "Unscathed. They’ll do nothin'. Wait and I get up I'm going to and batter the whole family. On top of the cage, the lot. That’s a f***in' lion chillin' right there. And a rat knawing."
Iaquinta quote tweeted the message simply stating that he was taking a "page out of the Dillon Danis playbook," which angered McGregor fans in the comment section who noted the disparity in star power between the two. One responded that the former lightweight title contender was "the epitome of the fighter who had nothing to lose, but somehow still found a way to lose it".
Danis is one of MMA's most notorious trolls and a close friend of McGregor's, who was in his corner during the fight at UFC 229. He is better known for his antics out of the cage than his two wins in it and is set to make his boxing debut after three years out of competition in January when he faces YouTube star KSI.
Do you agree with Al Iaquinta's assessment of Conor McGregor? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
McGregor made a number of angry comments towards Nurmagomedov, including a number of messages that have since been deleted. He declared that he doesn't, in fact, want to fight the Russian in a massive rematch, although noted that it would be monumental fight if it were to happen.
"Actually you know what I don’t want to fight the smellbag," McGregor wrote in one of many similar tweets that were deleted. "There are way better fights out there but let it be known the biggest wet the bed in fighting history is what this guy is. Think of the magnitude this fight wound have. Absolute bottler you are. Father gonna slap you 100 per cent."
Nurmagomedov's dad, Abdulmanap, was a famed trainer until his passing at the age of just 57 in 2020. He has been honoured by his son as well as training partner Islam Makhachev, who was recently crowned lightweight champion, with the insistence that they will accomplish "father's plan", although McGregor has also mocked this concept.
