Conor McGregor has stoked rumours of a future meeting with UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman by attempting to provoke the Nigerian Nightmare on Twitter after his successful title defence on Saturday night.
Usman stopped Jorge Masvidal with a ferocious blow in the second round at UFC 261 in Florida, defending his belt and consolidating his position as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters on the planet.
The bout was a rematch of the pair’s clash last year, a fight that Masvidal took on less than a week’s notice.
Their original contest went the distance but Usman was declared the winner on the judges’ scorecards via unanimous decision.
The 33-year-old delivered a brutal performance on Saturday night to follow up his earlier victory in impressive style.
He was rocked in the opening round by a well-placed rising knee from Masvidal, but recovered well to retain his dominance over the American and finish the fight in the second with a devastating right hand that knocked his opponent out cold.
McGregor’s response to the fight came in the form of a series of tweets in which he accused Usman of emulating his style, accompanied by a short clip from the Irishman’s defeat at the hands of Dustin Poirier back in January.
He also suggested that he could look to seal his third championship belt by facing Usman for the welterweight title in the near future.
“Usman even copying my shots now,” wrote McGregor. “Am I to fight this guy at some stage? I think so.
“Can’t be copying my words and my shots and not get a smack for it. I like 170. It’s mine soon.”
McGregor then suggested that he would spend the rest of 2021 at his current fighting weight of 155lbs before moving up to welterweight in order to challenge Usman next year.
“I’m a block at 170 guys,” he added. “Give me till end of year at this 155 weight. I’ll get the strap and then I’ll go up again.”
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