Conor McGregor has fuelled his bitter rivalry with Khabib Nurmagomedov by taking aim at one of his teammates.
The Irishman took offence to a tweet from Islam Makhachev who claimed mixed martial arts was not a sport for women.
The post came after Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Weili Zhang clashed in one of the best fights in UFC history.
McGregor, who has a storied history with Nurmagomedov and his teammates, responded by tweeting: "An absolute cretin.
"A convicted steroid cheat that will do anything to avoid impact and stall a fight, and then talks down on one of the greatest exchanges of combat ever produced by our female combatants.
"These little gremlins! It’s back on. Filthy rats. Shame on the game."
McGregor's rivalry with Nurmagomedov came to a head when they clashed in the octagon in October 2018.
The Russian choked out his challenger in the fourth round to hold on to his lightweight title.
The pair are heading for a second showdown, assuming the champion successfully defends his belt against Tony Ferguson next month.
McGregor returned to the UFC two months ago when he stopped Donald Cerrone inside 40 seconds.
He had been expected to fight once more to secure his sequel with Nurmagomedov - perhaps against Justin Gaethje.
But the 155lb ruler expects a phone call in the days after his fight with Ferguson.
"This guy [UFC president Dana White] is going to call me," Nurmagomedov told ESPN . "He's going to call me 100 per cent.
"Dana, please don't call me. If you want, let's go for dinner - but he's going to call me. We'll see. But let's focus on Tony Ferguson right now."
Nurmagomedov and Ferguson will meet at UFC 249 at the fifth attempt after injury and illness forced the bout to be cancelled on four separate occasions.
