Conor McGregor posts vicious ‘Khabib barb’ – before mysteriously deleting tweet

Conor McGregor appears to have directed yet another jibe at UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, as the MMA superstars continue to feud even after their fates were decided over the bitter UFC 229 post-fight brawl.

On Tuesday, McGregor and Nurmagomedov were slapped with bans of six and nine months respectively by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for their roles in the carnage that followed the Russian fighter’s submission win in Las Vegas in October.

READ MORE: Khabib given $500k fine and 9-month suspension for McGregor brawl at UFC 229

But far from drawing a line under the hate-filled saga, the sanctions have served to spark another bitter war of words between the pair and their teams.

McGregor bragged on social media on Wednesday about the punch he landed on Khabib’s cousin and teammate Abubakar Nurmagomedov in the carnage at the T-Mobile Arena.

Nurmagomedov followed that by posting footage of himself submitting McGregor in the fourth round, to the backdrop of ecstatic fans in his Dagestani homeland. That was accompanied by a succinct message translating as: “Nothing else matters.”

Irish megastar McGregor will clearly not let it lie, adding fuel to the fire on Thursday by posting the similarly terse: “Smacked your brother around.”

He strangely then deleted the message, but not before RT Sport grabbed a screenshot.

'The Notorious' moments later posted a promotional tweet pushing his August McGregor fashion brand.

But social media users were quick to jump on the deleted jibe, taking it as yet another clear dig at Khabib and his team by the Irish former double UFC champ. 

Earlier in the week, McGregor broke down his post-fight clash with Abubakar Nurmagomedov as he saw it, claiming he “could smell him a mile away and landed flush down the pipe" with a punch as he traded with the Russian in the octagon.  

Abubakar – himself a competitor in the Professional Fighting League – provided his own version of events immediately after the punch-up back in October. 

"In short, I climbed onto the cage. This Irish b**** hit me. But I didn’t hold back either. Bam, boom! – I gave [him] two," he said at the time. 

He also claimed he had been prevented from doing further damage to the Irishman by the papakha headgear he was holding in his left hand.

Abubakar was slapped with a 12-month suspension and $25,000 fine over his role in the brawl, as was fellow participant Zubaira Tukhugov.

UFC 155lbs king Khabib – who was hit with a whopping $500,000 fine – has reportedly vowed never to fight again in Las Vegas, and not at all until his teammates have served their suspensions.

In the meantime, expect the verbal sparring with McGregor to rumble on.