Conor McGregor has deleted a string of tweets aimed at Khabib Nurmagomedov's cousin Abubakar.
The former two-weight champion took to social media to after he tapped out at UFC Moscow.
Nurmagomeodov was beaten by David Zawada who locked in the submission with two minutes of the first round remaining.
And McGregor said: “Nurmagotaptap. Hahahah s****bags.
“He tapped his forehead.If you can tap his forehead. You can punch his forehead. He quit. 1 quitter exposed. Abubakar Nurmagotaptap. Forever a failure."
The irony was not lost on fans after McGregor himself tapped out against Khabib in their lightweight world title fight last year - and against Nate Diaz in their first meeting in 2016.
The UFC champion was in his cousin's corner for the fight and responded to the debut defeat.
He wrote on Instagram : "You never know brother, everything from God..
"Keep on; you never know what lies ahead, but men are different in that they are tested with dignity.
"Everything from the Almighty, in this life there are things more serious brother. You never know brother, everything from God.”
McGregor has not fought since he was submitted in the fourth round by Nurmagomedov last year but is expected to return on January 18 against Donald Cerrone.
The Irishman then wants to fight Jorge Masvidal after his win over Nate Diaz earlier this month, before a rematch with Nurmagomedov
But the Russian has insisted he will only face McGregor again if he wins 10 fights in succession.
“As for a rematch, to fight for a belt in the UFC, I remember I had something like nine or 10 fights," he said. "If he wins 10 fights in a row, then that’s completely possible."
Nurmagomedov is expected to defend his belt against Tony Ferguson in April or May but is reluctant to return to Las Vegas.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission initially withheld the champion's purse from his fight with McGregor following their post-fight brawl.
He was later fined $500,000 and insists he will not return unless the commission apologises.
“They offered me to fight in Vegas in March, but I told them that if Vegas officially apologises for wrongly fining me for that incident on October 6, 2018, then I’ll fight there," he said.
“If not, then they can assign me to another date. As far as I know, they’re planning in April to hold (a fight card) somewhere in New York, so I’m saying I’m ready for April, or March if Las Vegas apologises.”
