Conor McGregor claimed Anthony Joshua gave him a "shout out" with his "champ champ" comment after losing to Oleksandr Usyk.
Joshua, 32, was outpointed by heavyweight champion Usyk for the second time in 11 months as he lost a split decision to the Ukrainian in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night. It was a valiant effort from Joshua and he did have more success than in their first meeting last September, but the Brit ultimately came up short as he suffered his second defeat on the bounce.
Moments after the fight, Joshua threw two of his world titles on the ground and stormed off only to return to the ring minutes later. The Brit was criticised for his bizarre post-fight speech after the loss, but McGregor defended him by tweeting: "You are all going on ridiculous over this. That is a great speech right there. Fair play to him he made it yet he is still in there keeping that cog going. If they wanted the mic they could’ve tried get it back. Then he gives me a shout out. Great fight, thank you!"
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Joshua changed the tone of his post-fight speech multiple times, labelling himself a "new breed" of heavyweight before turning his attention to Usyk. 'AJ' praised his rival for winning the rematch despite the ongoing unrest in his native Ukraine, stating: "This guy here is a phenomenal talent, we're going to cheer for him three times. As I said, I was studying Ukraine and all of the champions that have come from your amazing country, I've never been there but at the same time what's happening there is not nice.
"I saw it with [Vasily] Lomachenko in your second fight with Orlando [Salido] there was unrest in Ukraine, there was civil war. Vitali Klitschko when he faced Danny Williams, civil unrest - under them circumstances, Usyk has managed to become champion. Champ champ! I just want to say: Bismillah."
It's unclear if Joshua was referring to himself or Usyk with the "champ champ" comment, but McGregor seemingly thinks it was about him. McGregor became the first-ever two-weight champion in the UFC six years ago, knocking out Jose Aldo and Eddie Alvarez to capture the lightweight and featherweight world titles.
The Irishman has recently struggled to replicate the form he once showed during his title reign, losing back-to-back fights against Dustin Poirier last year. McGregor, who is expected to make his UFC return early next year, recently promised to make "the greatest comeback in sports history" following his leg break to Poirier in their trilogy fight.
