Conor McGregor's former sparring partner Paulie Malignaggi has said that the UFC star could get disqualified when he fights Floyd Mayweather next week.

Malignaggi, a two-weight world champion in his own right, claims McGregor was using dirty tactics in training, which could cost him when he makes his boxing debut at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The comments from the American have added more fuel to the fire between him and 'Notorious', with the pair having a public fall-out following Malignaggi's decision to leave his training camp.

A video and some images have since been released by Conor's team, which appear to show McGregor giving the retired boxer a beating in sparring, including a knock down.

Mayweather has seen the footage and believes that the Irishman was using several dirty tactics.

Hall of Fame boxing referee Joe Cortez was hired to referee McGregor's sparring sessions, so he could learn what he was doing wrong.

And Malignaggi confirmed that McGregor had indeed been bending the rules, and that Cortez had deducted two points from the latter for rabbit punching and pushing behind the head.

“Rules are different in mixed martial arts than they are in boxing and he wanted to know what he’s doing wrong and what he’s doing right and what not so every single sparring session he had, Joe Cortez was there," he started.

"One thing Conor has to understand - and you see that in that clip that they sent out - it wasn’t so much that he’s landing shots because most of the shots are missing.

"If anything, they’ve shot themselves in the foot because all the dirty stuff he does that the referee will actually warn him for. In that particular sparring session, there’s no judges, but he lost two points from that particular sparring session for fouls, for rabbit punching and hitting behind the head and pushing behind the head.”

Malignaggi believes that McGregor hasn't quite got to grips with the rules of boxing yet, as he tries to adjust from the style and laws in the UFC.

He says that the two-weight UFC world champion is still using tactics that are acceptable in MMA and not in a boxing ring, and that he isn't conducting himself like a boxer yet.

“What he really has to learn is to try to keep it within the rules because he’s a little bit confused as to what he’s doing in there. He’s a little bit confused, especially on the inside as you can see on that tape," he said.

"He’s trying to grab and push the head down. Inside fighting in boxing is very different from inside fighting in mixed martial arts. You can’t grab. You actually have to know what you’re doing on the inside.

“I think Conor has to learn to turn punches over but more than that he needs to learn how to keep it clean. He’s gonna get himself disqualified if he keeps punching behind the head and pushing the head down.

"He needs to understand that inside fighting in boxing is different than inside fighting in mixed martial arts.”