'You ugly communist potato': UFC champ Henry Cejudo slams Russia's Petr Yan as title rivalry heats up (VIDEO)

UFC 'King of Cringe' Henry Cejudo has branded Russian bantamweight rival Petr Yan “an ugly communist potato” in the latest social media jousting between the pair.

Cejudo is being encircled by a list of contenders at 135lbs, as both Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan stake their claims to be next in line for the Olympic gold medalist.

Injury has prevented Cejudo from competing since a June defence of his bantamweight title against Marlon Moraes, an absence which the UFC deemed sufficient enough to strip him of his 'champ champ' status and remove their flyweight championship from around his waist.

But with his next move still unclear, and with both Sterling and Yan having underscored their candidacy to be the next title challenger, Cejudo has decided to ramp up the tension.

The champion has somewhat controversially declared that he would like to face UFC legend Jose Aldo in his next title bout, despite the Brazilian losing his bantamweight debut to Moraes - a fighter Cejudo breezed past in December - in his second defeat in succession. 

Indeed, a title shot on the back of two defeats in a row would be rarified air in the annals of UFC championship fights, but these are rarified times.

One needs only to look towards the likes of Tony Ferguson and, more recently, Leon Edward to identify fighters whose exploits in the cage haven't yet manifested into title opportunities (although Ferguson finally gets his in April) and it is clear that both Sterling and Yan are aggrieved at what they see as lopsided matchmaking.

"In the beginning, I respected Henry very very much. And I still do, in terms of his accolades,” Sterling said to Ariel Helwani on Monday. "It’s not the UFC's fault, it’s not my fault, that you [Cejudo] can’t sell tickets, your name alone doesn’t carry enough weight to sell tickets to fight the number one contenders in your division."

Yan, too, has reserved some specific words for Cejudo.

In the style that we have become accustomed to during his reign as champion, Cejudo responded on social media using what some referred too as a racial slur against Sterling, while also calling Yan an "ugly communist potato".

Cejudo's use of the word "Aljamima" was seized on by, among others, veteran ESPN reporter Karyn Bryant who is of African American heritage who bemoaned what appeared to be a pejorative reference to Aunt Jemima, a syrup mascot made famous in the 1930s.

READ MORE: Kayla Harrison OWNS ‘King of Cringe’ Henry Cejudo with savage putdown after UFC champ tells her to ‘sign the contract’

So with three fighters in the mix for the next title shot, that will leave two contenders extremely disappointed when the identity of the next bantamweight contender is revealed. And that ends up being Aldo, a fighter in the midst of a slump, you can guess that the fans may well be non-plussed too.