UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski has jumped to defend social media star Hasbulla Magomedov after Conor McGregor branded him "inbred" in a Twitter tirade.
The meme sensation has been in Australia on a meet-and-greet tour, and has managed to spend time with sport stars like Volkanovski and basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal. He has been seen engaging in pranks with the pair, including punching O'Neal and smeering Volkanovski's face with a burger he was eating during a shoot.
McGregor, however, has not been amused by the Russian's antics and declared that he would like to kick him like a Gaelic football in a series of deleted tweets. The former featherweight and lightweight champion has a fierce rivalry with Khabib Nurmagomedov, one of the first celebrities to discover Hasbulla, and is not a fan of the 3'4" influencer.
"I’d love to boot that little g**p Hasbulla over a goal post," McGregor tweeted. "How much to get him on the volley? I’m gonna make it my mission to score a three pointer with him one day, hon the GAA." Volkanovski hit back by tweeting in response: "You’ll have to go through me first, leave my mate alone."
Hasbulla responded to McGregor by joking about his record and his loss to Nurmagomedov from 2018. He also declared that the Irishman should come and meet him in Abu Dhabi next month when he attends the UFC 280 pay-per-view event at the Etihad Arena, where his pal Islam Makhachev will challenge for the lightweight world title against Charles Oliveira.
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"I have my UFC contract now," Magomedov added. "If Conor McGregor is really a man… see me in Abu Dhabi. Got smashed by Khabib already. Guess his money from Mayweather ran out and he needs more attention".
Part of Hasbulla's character is that he will approach a celebrity and punch them. Some of his 'victims' have included UFC legend Daniel Cormier, YouTuber-turned-boxer Adam Saleh and Barstool Sports personality Caleb Pressley as well as Volkanovski and O'Neal.
There's reportedly a "less than zero per cent" chance that Dana White would hand him a UFC fight against his long-time rival Abdu Rozik if Magomedov wanted to compete. But his parents are reportedly very protective, and won't allow him to fight in the UFC octagon regardless of the potentially life-changing payout.
