Conor McGregor has mocked UFC rival Khabib Nurmagomedov after he claimed that ring girls in MMA are "useless".
Nurmagomedov sparked controversy in the MMA community last week when he opined that ring - or octagon - girls, who have featured in sports such as boxing and MMA for decades, serve no purpose in combat sports.
And McGregor tweeted a picture mocking Nurmagomedov for his comments which shows Simpsons character Waylon Smithers, representing the former UFC champion, who is covering his eyes as two women in underwear, labelled as UFC octagon girls 'Brittney Palmer' and 'Arianny Celeste', dance around him.
Since retiring from fighting last October, Nurmagomedov has launched his own MMA promotion and also coaches fighters at the American Kickboxing Academy.
He expanded on his comments at a recent press conference, saying: "I don’t want to offend anyone, ring girls are the most useless people in martial arts.
"What is their function? I have a question, you can show it is the second round that is on the screen.
"There are people who understand martial arts and they are walking. This is my personal opinion Do they develop the sport? Or they help people to see it is the second round now?
"I realise that it is a history. History knows many mistakes. We read history to avoid mistakes of the past in the future. If we look in the history it says they are useless. That is my personal opinion."
McGregor has been out of action since breaking his tibia against Dustin Poirier in their trilogy fight at UFC 264.
It's not the first time McGregor - who has been very vocal on social media of late - has taken a shot at Nurmagomedov since his recent loss.
After Nurmagomedov congratulated Poirier on his recent win over McGregor, stating: "Good always defeats evil", the Irishman tweeted: "Covid is good and father is evil?"
McGregor and Nurmagomedov fought at UFC 229 in October 2018, with Nurmagomedov defending his lightweight title by fourth round submission.
The fight is mostly remembered for the mass brawl that occurred after the fight when Nurmagomedov jumped over the cage and attacked McGregor's cornerman Dillon Danis.
McGregor has lost two of his last three fights since facing Nurmagomedov, only picking up a stoppage win against the declining Donald Cerrone in January 2020.
But despite his losing form, McGregor is still the UFC's biggest star with his trilogy against Poirier at UFC 264 ranking at No.2 on the highest-selling cards in UFC history.
And McGregor hopes to set another record when his current UFC contract comes to an end.
He posted on Twitter : "I currently hold eight of the UFC’s top 10 pay-per-views. With two fights left on my contract, I will look to finish with the full top 10 in pay-per-views."
