Conor McGregor promised that “I will never enter a fight hurt again and I will never lose another fight” in a tweet hours ago. The Irishman, of course, has been out of action for the past three years and was scheduled to face Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29. However, a broken pinkie toe forced the Irishman to pull out of a fight for the first time in his career. And neither of these things has gone down well with bombastic featherweight champion Ilia Topuria. ‘El Matador’, unconvinced by McGregor’s claims, took to Twitter and excoriated the Dubliner savagely.

“You are mentally broken. That is your biggest lesson. You doubt yourself, your abilities, your preparation, that’s why you don’t show up. You are a bitch,” Topuria wrote in a reply to McGregor’s aforementioned tweet. Topuria declared that the reason ‘Mac’ needed to pull out of UFC 303 had more to do with his lack of confidence in his abilities and self-doubt than the actual injury, essentially calling the former two-division champion a coward.

While the featherweight champion’s words may seem harsh at first glance, there is a good reason for it. Topuria (along with half of the fighters in the UFC) is trying to get into the octagon with McGregor and have his own ‘red-panty night.’

Ilia Topuria dared Conor McGregor to fight him after becoming the champ

Of all the fighters that have been termed ‘the next Conor McGregor’, Ilia Topuria seems to have the strongest claim. Not only are there uncanny parallels between his career and McGregor’s, he brings the same bombastic and outspoken persona and an unshakable cocky self-confidence to the table as the Irishman.

This was apparent in his post-fight interview after Topuria shocked the UFC world and knocked out Alexander Volkanovski in the second round of their UFC 298 clash to wrest the title off of the legendary Australian’s back. The Spaniard then challenged the former two-division champ to fight him, if he had the courage to do so.

“Dana [White], it’s showtime, it’s time to take the UFC to Spain. And Conor McGregor, if you still have some balls, I will be waiting for you in Spain,” Topuria thundered in his post-fight interview. McGregor, however, had been uncharacteristically humored in his responses to Topuria, as he quipped, “I have huge balls, I’ve 4 kids.” 

It remains to be seen, however, how or even if he responds to Topuria, but one thing is clear- the two do not like each other and Topuria is angling for a fight with the biggest-ever MMA star. What are your thoughts about this brewing feud? Let us know in the comments below.