CONOR McGREGOR slammed Charles Oliveira on Twitter after the Brazilian picked Michael Chandler to beat him.
The Irishman, 34, will return to the octagon to face American Chandler, 34, once the next season of “The Ultimate Fighter” is concluded.
And lightweight champion Oliviera, who beat Chandler in December 2021, believes his former opponent has the edge over McGregor as he is linked with a clash against the winner.
Speaking on The MMA Hour, he said: “I don’t think he’s going to win [McGregor].
“I mean, he’s a guy that sells. He’s great to promote, and people love his fights, but I don’t think he’s going to win.
“So [I don’t have to deal with it]. Yeah, I believe Chandler is an explosive fighter.
“McGregor hasn’t fought in a long time, so I believe Chandler is going to win.”
Just hours later, McGregor fired back with a series of now-deleted tweets, the first of which read: “Charles Oliveira shut your pie hole”.
Referencing his record over Brazilian fighters, he then added: “2-0…. Actually 3-0 because Rda [Rafael dos Anjos] s**t a brick”.
He followed that up with tweets saying: “Brazil I love your land. I enjoy it,” and: “Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi!”
McGregor has not fought since losing to Dustin Poirier for a second successive time in 2021.
And he has not picked up a win since destroying Donald Cerrone inside 40 seconds in January 2020.
He broke his leg in the defeat to Poirier – an injury he has spent 18 months recovering from.
Meanwhile, Chandler has lost three of his last four bouts, a run which started when Oliveira took the belt off him with a second round TKO.
Following that, defeats to Justin Gaethje and Poirier have come either side of a victory over Tony Ferguson.
