Whilst the MMA world has been dominated by Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov in recent months, it has now given way to an old-but-refreshed rivalry.

For the third time, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz slugged it out inside a cage in an event promoted by Golden Boy - their first foray into the world of MMA.

Liddell succeeded the first two times in 2004 and 2006, but had been retired for eight years before last weeks clash and Ortiz was much, much fresher, having last competed in early 2017.

It was really ugly and brutal as well, with 'The Huntington Beach Bad Boy' scoring a first round knockout of 'The Ice Man' - and to tell the truth the fight looked like it should never have been allowed to happen.

Those thoughts were echoed by Dana White this week, who appeared on the UFC Unfiltered podcast and fired some really personal insults at Golden Boy's promoter, former three-weight boxing world champion Oscar De La Hoya.

White accused the Mexican of caring about his own personal gain rather than Liddell's health and that it was absolutely disgusting that he let the brutality happen.

He also stated that he would like De La Hoya to come out of retirement, and in no uncertain terms, get really beat up just like Liddell did.

Fighting talk from Dana.

It's come as no surprise then that De La Hoya has chosen to respond to the UFC President in an entirely similar manner.

"Dana is so small and threatened by our success with DAZN and now in MMA that he is bringing up news from a decade ago to try to stay relevant," De La Hoya stated to TMZ Sports.

"Boxing has entirely rejected him. And MMA fighters are now realising they don’t have to risk their lives just so he can get rich.

"Golden Boy and I are moving forward and are bigger than ever. Dana should shut the f**k up and try to figure out how to save his own company."

We expect war of words from MMA fighters, but this has been taken to an entire new level.

Who knows if Golden Boy's MMA venture will be a success - if it's anything like Liddell v Ortiz was, it definitely won't be - but i'm sure many would pay to see White and De La Hoya throw a few punches each other instead of verbals.