Conor McGregor slams Islam Makhachev in deleted tweets about skin infection

Conor McGregor has hit out at Islam Makhachev on social media before deleting his rant.

Makhachev is preparing for his UFC lightweight title defense against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302. The event will take place at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and ahead of the bout, Makhachev has posed alongside opponent Poirier.

Upon seeing the images, McGregor took to social media to criticize Makhachev for what appears to be a staph infection on his leg. The tweets were later deleted, but they read: "Staph again. This inbred however lives with Staph. This team is infested, make no mistake. Scruff balls. Whatever ya's are into, I suppose. He still subs Dustin in the 1st."

McGregor added: "Yous absolute scruffy fks I'm sick of yous. Wash your fking self! Wash your clothes! Wash your mats! And do it f**king everyday you scruffy c*nts."

Strangely, McGregor has previously backed Poirier to win the fight, saying: "I think Dustin can do him. I think Dustin does him, knocks him out.

"The things that Makhachev does wrong, the things he's not good at? He fumbles over his feet, usually early on and falls into shots. He's been knocked out by that back check hook from a southpaw before inside the UFC."

McGregor's long-awaited return

McGregor will return to the octagon at UFC 303 on June 29, facing Michael Chandler. It will be the Irishman's first fight since his nasty leg break in 2021, during a fight with Poirier.

Speaking about the fight, UFC chief Dana White has previously said: "There's all kinds of things that go on behind the scenes and it's all about timing. Chandler's been ready but Conor hasn't been ready.

"We talked about this in one of the press conferences recently, he had a lot of obligations that he had to deal with. What you don't want him doing is accepting a fight when he's got a ton of obligations and he can't train 100% for a fight, so here we are tonight."