Conor McGregor’s return to the Octagon is edging ever closer and his latest tweet has sent UFC Twitter into a maddening meltdown.

The Irishman suffered a freak injury during his UFC 264 fight against Dustin Poirier. Since then, he has been working his heart out to get back to being the beast we have known him to be.

While there is no timeline yet, The Notorious’ recent tweet suggests he is within touching distance to a return and we cannot emphasise enough as to how sharp he looks. 

He shared two pictures of himself in the ring with the caption “Fighting everyday for inner peace”. You would think he is likely to fight for much more than inner peace, however, when he does finally return. 

Having twice been well-beaten by Poirier in the space of just six months, he will be raring to go again to prove a point to his critics - who, it has to be said, have been noisy of late. 

McGregor, meanwhile, hasn’t been any quieter either, as his recent exchange with emerging UFC sensation Rafael Fiziev would tell you.

It all started with McGregor tweeting in response to a video applauding Fiziev’s defence.

He wrote: “This is awesome. Change the roundhouse to an axe kick. Roundhouse into and axe kick and this defence eats the full of the heel. I’m telling you. If their reaction to a high kick is this, implement the axe.”

The Azerbaijani lightweight, who comes from a Muay Thai and Thai Boxing background, didn’t take it very well, asking McGregor to stop living in a fantasy world.

“Conor, I invite you to Tiger Muay Thai where we can show you how to kick and defend the kicks properly so you can stop living in fantasy world where you think it’s possible to land an axe kick in this situation.”

Conor McGregor UFC return: Irishman's current physique says a lot

Conor McGregor UFC return: Irishman's current physique says a lot

McGregor then had a rather polite response at first; however, it seems he had a change of mood, bringing Fiziev right back to planet Earth with a classic.

His first tweet read: “I’m not disrespecting. I’m telling you, I’ve faced this defense habit a lot in my time where I knew every high kick I threw was being pulled back from and hitting air. I then began changing to an axe kick and came down on top with great success. That or the running roundhouse.”

The second one, though, tops it all.

“Thank you for the offer. When I am in Thailand I will head here for sure! Don’t disrespect you are yet to do anything significant in this sport. Good luck in your upcoming fight.”

The conversation has since been continuing. Never change, Conor. Never change.