UFC middleweight Marvin Vettori has branded Conor McGregor and Israel Adesanya p****** after the Irish star praised the champion.
Adesanya recently inked a new deal with the UFC that will make him the second-highest paid fighter in the promotion behind stablemate McGregor.
The pair both fight out of the Paradigm Sports management label and have known to be strong admirers of each others careers in the UFC.
McGregor praised Adesanya on social media after the news broke, tweeting: "Can’t wait to see Izzy Style back in the Octagon this weekend! One of the true remaining high level fighter/performer athletes we have on the roster!
"Don’t just fight! Perform! [Adesanya] back in the Octagon this week! Only on PPV!"
Vettori quickly replied: "Nice seeing p****** standing one for another. Great display of feminism."
During his career Vettori has fought Adesanya twice, losing their first three-round fight back in 2018 on a decision.
He recently met Adesanya back in June last year for the middleweight title and was the victim of another unanimous decision defeat.
Adesanya will now defend his middleweight title against Robert Whittaker this weekend in the main event at UFC 271.
He attempted to follow in the footsteps of his Paradigm teammate McGregor by making a switch to light-heavyweight in a bid to become another double-champion.
However, his bid failed losing to Jan Blachowicz by decision and he has since made the switch back to middleweight with his defence against Vettori.
Who will win this weekend - Israel Adesanya or Robert Whittaker? Let us know in the comments section below
The Nigerian star praised McGregor for his role in the UFC explaining his role as a "performer" during his illustrious fights.
“Real recognize real," Adesanya told reporters yesterday ahead of his fight with Robert Whittaker. "We’re on the same team when it comes to Paradigm.
"Yeah, I think I’m in second place when it comes to the highest-paid fighter on the roster, well, active right now.
“Conor is a guy I’ve always admired from the jump - from the jump, like when he fought Marcus Brimage [McGregor's debut in the promotion].
“He’s a guy that is a performer, when he said perform, I know what he means. We know, you don’t just fight, you perform.
"Look at the last fight with Whittaker, that was a rockstar concert - I gave a song and dance, the whole thing.”
Adesanya is a popular fighter within the UFC roster and has several high-profile friends including YouTube star Jake Paul who congratulated him on his recent deal.
However, Paul continued his argument over fighter pay and claimed that 'Style Bender' should be earning at least $7 million per fight.
McGregor has paved the way for the highest earnings in the sport having earned $180 which placed him at the top of Forbes sporting rich-list for 2021.
Only a chunk of this was from his two defeats to Dustin Poirier however with the sale of his majority share in whiskey company Proper Twelve providing a large portion of the earnings.
