Kamaru Usman responds to Conor McGregor's fiery rant: "Put that whiskey bottle down"

Conor McGregor is never low on enemies and his longlasting feud with Kamaru Usman has been ignited once again.

McGregor is preparing to put an end to his almost three-year layoff when he returns to the cage on June 29. The Irishman is set to face Michael Chandler in a grudge match following their time coaching on The Ultimate Fighter.

Despite approaching his comeback, ‘The Notorious’ still found some time to take shots at several members of the UFC roster. McGregor shared some choice words for a number of his colleagues, forcing Kamaru Usman to hit back at the former lightweight champion.

“At the end of the day, Conor is who Conor is,” Usman said. “Conor has done some pretty fantastic things in this sport of mixed martial arts. For the UFC, he has. But Conor, so have I.”

“You were a champion, so was I. So, at the end of the day, you can’t go around [saying] that. Where I have a little issue is where you come around [and] you’re saying, ‘He’s a bum.’ You can’t say that, Conor.”

Usman continued, claiming that he didn’t once attack McGregor for his incidents outside of the sport.

“I didn’t kick him while he was down. He’s had run-ins with the law, he’s had back-to-back incidents and situations, but you’ve never heard me sit there and kick the man while he was down.”

“There needs to be a level of respect here because, at the end of the day, this sport is all about the respect and discipline that we put in to get to the top of the sport. That seems to be something that he’s lacking.”

Related: Kamaru Usman reveals main reason why Conor McGregor will never capture UFC gold again

‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ then claimed that Conor McGregor had two separate chances to fight him, allegedly declining both.

“I gave Conor two opportunities to fight me. Two opportunities while I was champion. I told him, ‘Hey, if you want a crack at that third belt, who better [than me]?'”

“I was on the run that I was on, who better for you to come up and fight? And he talked about it. He bounced back and forth when he wanted to make his return… It is what it is, Conor.”

“My man, I think it’s sometimes better that you put that whiskey bottle down… And be a good father, and a good role model.”

Check out what Kamaru Usman had to say in response to Conor McGregor below.

Kamaru Usman responds to Conor McGregor, and says he gave Conor two opportunites to fight him when he was champion 😳

"You can't say [I'm a bum], Conor. I didn't kick him while he was down. He's had run-ins with the law, he's had back-to-back incidents… but you never heard me… pic.twitter.com/jnxSWzaBHO

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 22, 2024