When Islam Makhachev slammed "cheap" Elon Musk over Twitter verification

Islam Makhachev has a blue tick beside his name on X right now, but that wasn't always the case. The UFC lightweight champion had previously had his blue checkmark removed following Tesla CEO Elon Musk's purchase of the social media platform.

Following Musk's acquisition of the company, he implemented a policy that saw users being required to subscribe to Twitter to be able to be verified. Makhachev was frustrated with the change, and after seeing he would need to pay a fee to regain his blue checkmark, he took a light-hearted jab at Musk and wrote:

"Elon Musk you cheap guy, where's my blue tick?"

Catch Islam Makhachev's comments below:

It isn't clear whether Makhachev paid the $8 fee for his blue checkmark or not. Several other celebrities and fighters refused to pay the subscription fee, such as Conor McGregor, before Twitter began verifying accounts of famous figures out of courtesy.

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Islam Makhachev called out by Arman Tsarukyan

Arman Tsarukyan recently competed at Pit Submission Series 12 in a submission grappling match against Dagestan's Makkasharip Zaynukov, who is a member of the Nurmagomedov MMA School.

Tsarukyan secured victory via unanimous decision after a competitive clash and called out Islam Makhachev. The pair were scheduled to clash at UFC 311 in January, however, Tsarukyan withdrew from the bout 24 hours before fight night due to a back injury.

Following his win over Zaynukov, the Armenian was interviewed in the arena, where he said:

"I need one more guy from Khabib's team. Let's do it again."

Catch Arman Tsarukyan's callout of Makhachev below:

'Ahalkalakets' also has plans to fight for the vacant UFC lightweight gold, if Makhachev moves to welterweight in the future to complete his double-champion aspirations. Moreover, Tsarukyan has to fight a top-ranked contender before getting another shot at the champion.