Conor McGregor tweets-and-deletes controversial comment on Islam Makhachev's training picture as UFC 302 and UFC 303 edge near

Conor McGregor has a bit of a history of deleting inflammatory posts on social media and his latest volley toward Islam Makhachev continues that trend.

The two men are set to headline the next pair of UFC pay-per-view offerings on June 1 and June 29, respectively. Makhachev will defend his UFC lightweight belt against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 and McGregor returns against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in a welterweight matchup.

Despite both having locked-in next opponents, Conor McGregor took some time to offer up a crass insult on a training photo of the reigning UFC 155-pound champion.

McGregor initially responded to a photo of Makhachev getting to work in the training room by commenting:

"Cousin f******"

An X account called @ChampRDS captured a screenshot of the online message which has since been removed by 'The Notorious'.

Check the screenshot of McGregor insulting Makhachev in a since-deleted post below

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Conor McGregor and Islam Makhachev's recent comments to each other

The 35-year-old is a former UFC lightweight champion which made it intriguing to many to hear McGregor's thoughts on the looming Makhachev versus Poirier title bout.

McGregor not only picked Poirier to become the new champion but he thinks that 'The Diamond' can finish Makhachev in the process. On a recent live stream with Duelbits, the former two division UFC champion stated that he has seen Makhachev get finished in the octagon with a back check hook from a southpaw and seems to foresee Dustin Poirier ending the proceedings in the same way.

The native of Dublin was referencing Makhachev's lone pro MMA loss where Adriano Martins knocked out the Russian combatant at UFC 192.

Conversely, Makhachev has also been commenting on McGregor a bit as of late. Islam Makhachev had this hypothetical future McGregor contest mentioned to him on a recent episode of the Pound 4 Pound podcast featuring Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo.

Makhachev mentioned how it would be a stupid thing to not take a potential fight wth the Irishman if the bout was ever offered to him considering the massive financial windfall associated with it. There is also deeper narrative components to this fight beyond the direct Makhachev versus McGregor beef.

Conor McGregor and Makhachev's mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov had one of the most bad blood-filled feuds in the history of mixed martial arts. Nurmagomedov bested McGregor at UFC 229 via submission.

An Islam Makachev fight vs Conor McGregor does not make sense on an athletic meritocracy level, but the UFC's 155 pound titleholder recognizes the storyline depth to the fight if it ever somehow came to be.