Conor McGregor offered a mocking view on Kamaru Usman, in contrast to Khabib Nurmagomedov branding the welterweight star as the "real deal".
Usman is currently ranked as the UFC's pound-for-pound leading fighter having made five successful defences of his welterweight crown since becoming champion in 2019. He is currently out of action after suffering a hand injury and is hoping to make a return in the summer, with the Irishman targeting a world-title shot.
The promotion posted an image of the 'Nigerian Nightmare' on Instagram with the caption: "P4P" with a crown emoji representing him as the 'king'. McGregor, though, offered a comical view on his status commenting with a laughing emoji in response to the post.
His former rival Nurmagomedov was keen to wax lyrical about the welterweight champion, however, commenting under the post: "Real deal". The Russian star has been retired from the promotion since 2020 but holds a positive relationship with Usman who is his stablemate under MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz.
McGregor has set his sights on a potential fight with Usman in recent weeks, and has been more critical of the Nigerian's recent dominance in the sport. The 33-year-old currently weights 190lbs as he continues his recovery from a broken leg suffered last year.
He is likely to make a switch to 170lbs, where Usman currently holds the crown, and has called for an immediate title shot upon making his return which is targeted for later this year. Nonetheless, McGregor emphasised his confidence that he could put his hand up for the bout and go on to hand his rival a first defeat since joining the promotion in 2015.
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"I believe versus Usman for the 170lb title for my comeback is the one I’m eyeballing at the minute," he told TheMacLife. "And I feel confident against Usman. A jab happy, sloppy, orthodox wrestler with no submissions whatsoever. What’s he going to do? Where’s the danger here? I don’t see a danger with him. I’ve already won the 155lb title, I got myself down to a lightweight frame, but I’m big now.
"His ground-and-pound isn’t strong, plus he’s on the older side. And then plus the world is to be took again. The triple crown. No one’s ever obtained three knockouts in three weight divisions moving up like I have already, but no one’s ever obtained three UFC world titles cross three divisions like I will do also if we make this fight."
Usman has previously explained his desire to face McGregor but is set to defend his title against Leon Edwards when he makes a return to the octagon later this year. He issued a menacing response when learning of the call-out, tweeting: "You guys want a murder scene in the octagon."
