UFC lightweight Dan Hooker is attempting to dig out new pound-for-pound king Islam Makhachev with serious allegations that the champion cheated in his win over Alexander Volkanovski on Sunday.

Makhachev won the title fight by unanimous decision following five rounds of enthralling action inside the octagon but is now having his name thrown into the dirt by a fellow competitor.

Hooker remains on the side-lines of the sport with a recent hand injury ruining his chances of featuring in the upcoming UFC 285 event that see's Jon Jones make his long-awaited return, but that hasn't stopped him from making some shocking claims against Makhachev.

In a tyrannous social media rant, Hooker made several posts that suggested the Dagestan-born fighter had cheated by using an IV drip to help him rehydrate ahead of his match against Australian Volkanovski.

Using a drip to rehydrate after a weight cut has previously been adopted by some UFC fighters but was banned by the sport's regulators in 2015 in an effort to stomp out the practice.

Hooker's first foul-mouthed post targeted Makhachev and called him a 'dumb c***' as Hooker made suggestions that the UFC lightweight champions had 'hired a nurse' to inject him with fluids.

There is currently no evidence that Makhachev has committed any wrongdoing or that Hooker's comments are true. 

Hooker first posted: 'Dumb c*** thinks he can fly to Australia hire a nurse to give him an I.V and we won’t find out. Cheating dog'.

But he wasn't done there as bemused reactors questioned what the New Zealand born fighter was referring to with Hooker then posting several more updates explaining the situation.

Hooker clearly unhappy that his City Kickboxing teammate Volkanovski had missed out on the chance to become a two-weight world champion then shared an image of a google search asking how long fighters are banned for if they use an IV drip alongside the words: 'USADA [U.S. Anti-Doping Agency] doing f*** all'.

Any fighter found to be using an IV drip without authorisation from the UFC could face a possible ban from the sport.

Several posts ensued with Hooker daring his followers to 'prove him wrong' and then insisted that Makhachev 'doesn't win if he doesn't cheat'.

The disgruntled out-of-action fighter then rounded off his x-rated rant, simply writing: 'Islam is a cheat' in response to one commenter asking what he was on about.

33-year-old Hooker is clearly fuming that Makhachev emerged victorious and cemented his place as the sport's unrivalled pound-for-pound champion and extending his unbeaten record in the title bout.

Makhachev's defeated Australian opponent took the loss in good spirits, at the time telling those inside the Perth arena to give the Russian victor a round of applause, but later admitting he felt he did enough to win the fight.