Conor McGregor has heaped praise on Telegram founder Pavel Durov just weeks after slamming his greatest rival for a venture the pair were involved with.

Back in November, McGregor claimed that Khabib Nurmagomedov had been conning fans by ‘fire-selling’ NFTs on Telegram, which Durov founded. Now, only a few weeks after his now-deleted tirade, he appears to have struck up a friendship with the social media supremo.

Durov now appears to be one of the only people in the world with close ties to both Nurmagomedov and McGregor. The pair’s bitter rivalry has waged on since 2018, and many in the MMA world have had to pick a side in the legendary beef.

Conor McGregor pens gushing tribute to Telegram founder

In a lengthy post on X, Conor McGregor explained why he is such a big fan of Pavel Durov, who founded Telegram. The Irishman is deeply politically involved, even flirting with a presidential run in Ireland last year, and free speech is one of his key platforms.

“My brother Pavel Durov!” McGregor wrote alongside four photos of the pair together training and enjoying a formal night out. “In a world where governments are tightening their grip on our freedoms, big respect to Pavel Durov, the unbreakable force behind Telegram!

“This man is a true fighter: exiled from Russia for refusing to sell out user data, building an empire on privacy and free speech, and now calling out the EU’s ‘war against privacy’ with their impossible rules that punish innovation.

“He’s warning us we’re running out of time to save the free internet from a dystopian nightmare of surveillance and censorship. Even after his arrest in France and being blocked from speaking at freedom forums, he stands firm, removing harmful content without compromising principles.

“Pavel, you’re a legend and you are inspiring entrepreneurs and rebels everywhere to never back down. You are a dear friend and a loyal brother and I stand alongside you all the way 100%! #PavelDurov #FreeSpeechWarrior #Telegram #Legend.”

Durov replied to the message by writing: “Appreciate the love, brother. You’re an unstoppable force of nature.”

Conor McGregor previously mocked Khabib Nurmagomedov for Telegram sale

Durov has also trained with Khabib Nurmagomedov, who even invited him to train with his team late last year. They also partnered up for the legendary lightweight champion for a set of ‘digital papakhas’ which were used as symbols on Telegram.

At the time, he deleted his tweets after initially selling the products, with McGregor writing a string of tweets slamming him for the scheme.

“There is just no way good guy Khabib used his late father’s name, as well as Dagestan’s culture, to scam his fans and fire sell a bunch of digital NFTs online and then delete all of the content after they were sold, leaving fans robbed of their money,” he wrote.

“What a shame and a stain on his father’s name. Just wow! To scam fans using his father and his country’s culture is just so low… Father’s plan has now become father’s scam. Very sad,”

The Telegram message Nurmagomedov had posted stayed live, and his account tweeted a response which read: “You absolute liar. You will always try to darken my name, after you got destroyed that night, but you will never achieve that!

“Yes, good guys don’t do that. They don’t create exclusive digital gifts with real time value, that you can share with your friends and family. Gifts in the shape of Papakha – hat that symbolize traditions and culture of Dagestan people.

“Traditions and culture that slowly walking over this world, whether you like it or not! Gifts that you can find exclusively on Telegram, greatest messaging platform on the world.”

McGregor hit back, writing: “Apologise this instant for using your late father’s name to sell these ‘gifts’ that cost your fans so much of their money.

“Also to sell something means it is not a gift you low iq troglodyte! That is the direct opposite of what ‘gift’ means. Duh duh duh dumbass hahaha Scamming on your dead daddy’s name. Shame.”