UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman appears to have been the victim of cyber crime after his Twitter account was apparently hacked to display vulgar messages towards Conor McGregor, as well as posting his own bank details.
Hours before McGregor took to the cage in Las Vegas where he would defeat Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds of the first round of their UFC 246 main event, Usman caused shockwaves online when the series of offensive messages were displayed on the fighter's official Twitter page.
Also on rt.com Conor McGregor crushes Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds at UFC 246"Let's be real, my man [Conor McGregor] is a f****** Irish punk who won't be winning today," read one of the messages, with further messages directed at McGregor's long-term girlfriend.
Even another of McGregor's former opponents, Floyd Mayweather, was targeted in the tirade.
"Furthermore Floyd Mayweather is a f****** pussy. I'll knock the n***** out of him," one of the messages read.
The messages, which also included a screengrab of Usman's banking information, have since been deleted.
Speaking in the post-fight press conference McGregor sensationally claimed that Usman's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, may have been responsible for the messages.
Abdelaziz, who counts Khabib Nurmagomedov and Frankie Edgar among his clients, is known to occasionally handle the social media output of his fighters.
"I'd be sceptical of that because one came through early," McGregor said. "It had all the hallmarks of that little f*cking weasel Ali.
"They give him control of accounts. He had Frankie's account, he had Henry's (Cejudo) account. This has been going on a while.
"The way the first one was written, I knew exactly where it came from and then all of a sudden it became little bit heavier ones and it became a hack job.
"Whatever. I don't know what's going on. It's a bit of a weird night, isn't it? The two boys doing mad stuff."
There are no suggestions elsewhere that Ali was behind the hacking, however, and the manager himself said: "Guys, Kamaru Usman’s Twitter has been hacked UFC is working on getting it back."
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Usman is among McGregor's targets for what he has called a 'season' in 2020 as he targets what would be an historic third UFC title in three different weight categories.
'The Nigerian Nightmare' dethroned Tyron Woodley for the championship in early 2019 and has defended it once to date, earning a late stoppage victory against Colby Covington in December.
Usman has indicated that he would be interested in a bout with McGregor, but doesn't see it going well for the Irishman.
"It is a mismatch. More power to him, anything is possible. A fight is a fight, anything can happen. But just being real, that’s a tremendous mismatch. I think I would hurt him really, really bad," Usman said in a recent press engagement.
Also on rt.com ‘Weak as f*ck’: Former foe Nate Diaz unimpressed with Conor McGregor’s comeback win at UFC 246However, a potential fight with Conor McGregor would far outweigh any of the other welterweight contenders when it comes to potential earnings.
McGregor's win late on Saturday, which was his third knockout in three different UFC weight classes, will likely mean that the Dubliner can decide which path to take next - but whether it is Kamaru Usman or Jorge Masvidal, it seems likely that it will be taking place at 170lbs.