Conor McGregor has continued to hit out at former teammate Artem Lobov by calling him a "rat" with the help of a kids toy.
Former two-weight UFC champion McGregor fell out with Lobov after the Russian filed a lawsuit claiming that he is owed five per cent of the $180million (£151m) sale for McGregor's Proper Twelve whiskey company. McGregor, along with two other shareholders in the brand, sold their stakes last year for a massive $600m (£503m). The sale put McGregor on top of the Forbes highest-paid athlete list last, ranking above the likes of Tyson Fury and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The lawsuit is ongoing and Lobov recently took further action by taking McGregor to the high court in what he called “a concerted social media barrage” against him. McGregor tweeted and deleted an audio message in which he chanted that Lobov "is a rat", also challenging him to a physical fight at SBG Ireland's HQ in Dublin.
Lobov lost his defamation case against McGregor last week and the UFC legend has doubled down on his "rat" taunt to his former friend in a new video. Recording a kids toy that plays back recorded messages, the blue furry toy shakes around whilst repeating the words: "Artem is a rat na na na na, hey".
Lobov sought an order that would have required McGregor to remove any of the allegedly defamatory posts on social media. In the ruling from Mr. Justice Garrett Simons, the court was not satisfied that McGregor's tweet in which he called Lobov a "rat" was defamatory and didn't go beyond “vulgar abuse.”
The judge labelled the comment as "a series of pejorative terms" which were applied to Lobov and was "not necessarily even the most insulting". The judge added that "no reasonable member of society would attach any significance" to the tweets McGregor posted about Lobov.
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McGregor and Lobov's falling out stems from Lobov claiming that he came up with the idea of a whiskey brand. Lobov said that McGregor was approached with the idea of starting a vodka company, but that he suggested creating whiskey instead. Lobov also claimed he once turned down a $1m (£830,000) offer from McGregor for his involvement in the company and was told by his former teammate that he would be given five per cent of any potential sale.
McGregor denies having an agreement to pay Lobov in connection with the whiskey deal and a spokesperson for the 34-year-old previously denied Lobov's involvement claim, stating: "Proper No. Twelve Irish whiskey was created, developed, branded and tirelessly promoted by Conor McGregor."
