Former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson appears to be very much back to himself after posting an aggressive rant directed at the manager of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Ali Abdelaziz.
Abdelaziz had earlier posted a graphic to Twitter mocking Ferguson and branding him a clown and Conor McGregor a quitter, while praising his own client Nurmagomedov as "the real champion."
And the tweet, perhaps as intended, prompted an angry riposte from Ferguson, who put Abdelaziz on blast for his remarks on social media.
"Aint no clowning around you fake f*ck," Ferguson replied.
"@AliAbdelaziz00 you better leave my name out of your mouth before I mop the mat with your sorry ass.
"You ain't sh*t w/out your homeboys ya snitch. No pride, no guts, just like your paper chump @TeamKhabib. See you in person soon."
Ferguson is set to return to action against Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone in a hotly-anticipated lightweight clash at UFC 238 on June 8.
It will be the first time Ferguson has been in action since his stoppage win over Anthony Pettis at UFC 229 last October.
Earlier this year the American took a step away from the sport to address some personal issues and is now ready to return to the octagon once again.
Ferguson hasn't lost a fight since May 2012 and he is currently riding an 11-fight win streak while Cerrone is on a three-fight winning run, with all three of those victories coming more recently than Ferguson's last outing.
Meanwhile, the path now seems to be clear for the widely-expected title unification clash between Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier to be officially announced for UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi on September 7.
Nurmagomedov had vowed not to compete until his teammates Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Zubaira Tukhugov had cleared their suspensions. And the Nevada State Athletic Commission this week did just that, reducing the pair's one-year bans by 35 days, meaning they will have been cleared by the time Nurmagomedov faces Poirier.
Also on rt.com Path cleared for Khabib to headline UFC Abu Dhabi after teammates’ suspensions commuted