Reigning UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has labelled Conor McGregor a ‘clout chaser’ after the Irishman called him out to be his next opponent.
McGregor's competitive future was in doubt after he suffered a broken leg during a trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier last July, although said at Bellator 275 last month he was "almost back" and aiming for a return to the UFC Octagon this summer.
The 33-year-old is confident of securing another title shot in his latest comeback, even though he has been beaten in three of his last four contests, with McGregor setting his sights on moving to welterweight to take on Usman and trying to become the first triple-weight world champion.
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McGregor told the MacLife podcast that he "doesn't see a danger" facing the Nigerian, despite him being top of the UFC pound-for-pound rankings, leaving Usman unimpressed by the comments.
"I don't take anything that he says seriously because I understand he's just a clout chaser," Usman exclusively told Sky Sports. "He's just looking for clout.
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"He likes to attach his name to the guy at the top of the sport, just to announce his resurgence. That's what he does. If he's fighting, he's going to tweet about it. If I'm fighting, he's going to tweet something.
"He just wants to keep his name relevant out there, because obviously his fighting isn't doing the talking anymore. He wants to keep his name out there, that's why his fingers are doing the talking nowadays."
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On whether McGregor is a worthy opponent, Usman added: "To be honest, the real competitor in me is like no, no f****** way. I wouldn't even pay attention to him because I know what he's doing, and I know where he's at in his career.
"He hasn't won a fight in a couple of years. Yes, those were tough fights, but it is what it is. If I had to fight Conor [McGregor], I would still feel the same way, that's a top contender.
"Does he deserve it? Nobody deserves anything, so he shouldn't sit there and say I should get this or I should get that. Myself and the company will set down and decide what makes most sense.
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"I've been the guy that everybody calls out and that's because I have something that everybody wants. At the end of the day, if it's Conor or no Conor, Leon [Edwards] or Colby [Covington] or [Gilbert] Burns, at the end of the day it doesn't matter.
"Everybody is going to call me out, that's what they're supposed to do. It's up to myself and the company to sit down and say 'okay, this guy is worth it, 'let's go out and take him out next'."
When will Usman return to the UFC Octagon?
Usman also laughed off McGregor's suggestions that he is a "a jab-happy, sloppy, orthodox wrestler with no submissions whatsoever" and explained why he feels he would come out on top in any potential clash.
"You can ask [Gilbert] Burns how my ground and pound is and you can ask [Jorge] Masvidal how my sloppy boxing is!" Usman said. "Everybody is going to have their opinions and everybody is going to say certain things. When you step in to the octagon with me, I am the judge, the jury and the executioner inside there and I will do as I see fit.
"People can hate that I'm not talking a bunch of trash and doing a bunch of b******t, but it is what is and they can hate all they want. When we step inside that octagon, I am the pound-for-pound king and each and every opponent will understand that."
Usman has yet to return to full training after sustaining a hand injury in November's victory over Colby Covington, with the 34-year-old prepared to be patient before getting back into the Octagon.
"The hand is getting better," Usman added. "The doctors want me to wait approximately three months, because it's tendons and these things linger and these things can definitely reinjure.
"I still haven't thrown a punch with this hand since my fight, so I'm just going to wait it out, make sure that I'm good and I'm healthy, then I can get back to my regular schedule of events. If this injury wasn't here then I'd probably have fought two or three times already!
"We let this hand heal, then once this hand heals the way it's supposed to heal, then I can get back to punching. Then I can start to weed out these guys and decide who will be the next victim."
