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Conor McGregor is one of the most dominant forces in UFC when it comes to smack-talking. Nicknamed the 'Notorious', the former featherweight and lightweight champion has shut down his haters (including his opponents) on various occasions - be it on camera or on social media.
From telling Nate Diaz to get him coffee on CNBC, to getting the Boston crowd to chant "F*** the Mayweathers", or offering an abstinent Khabib Nurmagomedov Proper Twelve Whiskey - Conor McGregor insulted most of his opponents ahead of his fights.
However, there have been instances when the 'Mystic Mac' has had a tough time winning bouts on social media.
In this piece, we look at five notable MMA personalities who weren't afraid to take on Conor McGregor on social media.
#5 - Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor
Nate Diaz rarely holds anything back when calling out his opponents, even in defeat. However, having been the one to hand McGregor his first UFC loss, Nate has never backed away from handing out insults.
McGregor won the rematch against Nate Diaz at UFC 202 in August 2016, and then went on to become a two-division champ after defeating Eddie Alvarez for the Lightweight Championship later in the same year.
However, after being stripped off both championship belts and losses to Floyd Mayweather and Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor announced his retirement in 2019. Just a few days ahead of the announcement, Nate Diaz tweeted: "You acting like you came back.. in real life your dead".
Later, in 2020, UFC President Dana White claimed that while there was a chance McGregor would return, it would not happen before 2021. To this, Nate Diaz responded by taking to Twitter once again, saying: "Lol sit you a** down till 2021"
After Conor lost to Dustin Poirier by TKO at UFC 257 in January 2021, Nate Diaz didn't hold back.
Replying to a tweet by Conor in which he had said, "Done it all, still here", Nate wrote: "I f***ed you up and u never got it back but u acted like u did now u get a rematch every time u get your a** beat like a spoiled Little b**** would I’ve done it all and I’m still here plus the guy who just beat ur ass is a scared Lil b***h also f*** u both."
#4 - Ali Abdelaziz vs. Conor McGregor
Ali Abdelaziz is an MMA fighter-turned-manager and promoter. Having had a brief MMA career of 1-3, Ali Abdelaziz became a successful UFC manager for fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Kamaru Usman, Justin Gaethje, Islam Makhachev and Kayla Harris.
Ever since UFC 229, where Khabib absolutely demolished Conor McGregor, there has been a feud of sorts between Conor and Ali Abdelaziz, most of which has been visible on social media.
Conor targeted Ali Abdelaziz by referring to a 2001 criminal investigation case in which the MMA manager was named by the alias 'Robert Earl Britton'. McGregor tweeted: "Robert Earl Britton is the man!"
To this, Abdelaziz replied: "Wrong, the Eagle is", reminding the Irishman who he lost to at UFC 229.
While McGregor has apparently deleted most of his tweets, here are a few of the other tweet exchanges between Conor and Abdelaziz:
Ali Abzelaziz also warned McGregor that with the list of fighters Ali is managing, the 'Notorious' will never be able to become a champ again.
#3 - Justin Gaethje vs. Conor McGregor
Dustin Poirier faced Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242 in September 2019, where Khabib won the fight with a third-round submission.
Minutes after the fight, Conor McGregor tweeted that he wanted a rematch with Khabib in Moscow. This didn't please Gaethje who then tweeted:
Gaethje went all in with a barrage of tweets, further insulting Conor McGregor.
Although Gaethje later complimented Conor's style of fighting, he still stood firm on his stance and called him a "sh*t human".
Some might say that Gaethje did all that to gain traction and eventually earn a shot at fighting Conor. Regardless, his tweeting game was brutally strong. McGregor later responded to Gaethje's tweets while also calling out Khabib and said:
Having the last word, Gaethje told ESPN after Conor's UFC 257 loss to Poirier, "There is nothing that makes me happier [than] seeing a piece of s--- get put down. That was great. I loved it."
#2 - Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor
Khabib and Conor's rivalry was perhaps the biggest of them. Khabib took all of Conor's trash-talking ahead of UFC 229 personally. It was why, after finishing him through a neck crank in the 4th round, he attacked Conor's Jiu-Jitsu trainer.
Reports made the rounds in the UFC that Khabib was intentionally avoiding the much-talked about fight with Tony Ferguson. When Gaethje defeated Tony at UFC 249, Conor called 'The Eagle' a "hiding rat". He tweeted:
Firing back at Conor, Khabib reminded him of the UFC 229 loss. He also replied to Conor's comments that Khabib only knew how to hug legs. His tweet went:
Khabib, who otherwise carries himself with grace, did not back down against Conor McGregor. Here are some of his other tweets.
After Conor McGregor's defeat against Poirier at UFC 257, Khabib claimed it was because Conor had made changes to his coaching team.
And when reports started making the rounds that Khabib could return from his retirement post UFC 257, his statement - "I choked both of them (Conor, Poirier) out, there's no interest there" - doused all the flames of a potential rematch.
#1 - Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor
Floyd 'Money' Mayweather and Conor McGregor's rivalry started with the 'Money Fight', which was dubbed the biggest fight in sports history. A ton of trash talk led to the fight, which ended in Mayweather's favor with a 10th round TKO. Thus, started the social media verbal war.
After Conor McGregor posted a picture of a cake on Instagram that said "Happy Retirement Daddy", Mayweather trolled him over comments made by Conor to Mike Tyson that he would beat 'Money Mayweather' in a rematch:
Mayweather again brought up the topic of Conor McGregor in a tweet in which we warned Logan Paul - Mayweather's next fight - of similar consequences to that of Conor, calling the Irishman a "bi**h".
Following Conor's loss against Dustin Poirier, Floyd again trolled Conor, calling him "Con Artist McLoser". Floyd talked about the racism that's prevalent in the sports industry and said, “I seen this post and my take on it is that the world knows Con Artist McLoser can steal everything from me and be loved but I’m hated... Just know, that bum will never be me or be on my level."
Floyd also discussed Conor McGregor's prospects of fighting Manny Pacquiao saying, "Conor can not even win in his own sport, but talking about coming back to boxing to fight Pacquiao. Nobody wants to see that, it's like my leftovers eating leftovers."
