Conor McGregor has described his UFC rival Frankie Edgar as 'an icon' after the American's defeat to Chan Sung Jung.
Edgar suffered a first-round knockout loss to 'The Korean Zombie' on Saturday - and it led to many fans criticising him for stepping in at short notice against a dangerous opponent.
McGregor previously said he wanted to fight featherweight Edgar on his UFC comeback, but will instead take on Donald Cerrone at welterweight in Las Vegas on January 18.
Irishman McGregor has a healthy respect for Edgar, and offered him some of words of encouragement after his defeat.
Edgar tweeted: "Why do the negative comments alway get to you the most? Thanks for the love from most of you out there. To the others I’m sure it won’t be your last shitty comment to dish out. Let’s not give power to these people."
McGregor replied, saying: "Remember what was told in shootouts Frankie! Stay low and keep firin!!! Forever an icon in this game! #FrankieBaby."
Edgar has now lost three of his last four octagon apearances as he looks to move to bantamweight.
With McGregor fighting at welterweight at UFC 246 next month, a match-up between the two looks increasingly unlikely.
After fighting Cerrone, McGregor is expected to target Jorge Masvidal.
In an interview with Fansided quoted by MMA Junkie , Masvidal was asked whether he'd prefer a fight with McGregor or a UFC welterweight title shot against Kamaru Usman - and he chose 'The Notorious'.
"Conor is not always going to be around,” Masvidal said. “Whoever has that belt at the time will always be there. There will always be a 170-pound champion.
“What is the big deal if this guy that’s been in the sport 16 years goes on and gets a paycheque? I’m fighting a killer, a two-time champion, a guy that’s a sniper with his left hand – and I’m also going to make a paycheque.”
McGregor will also have a rematch against Khabib Nurmagomedov on his radar, after he was choked out by the Russian in his last UFC appearance on October 2018.
