'Don’t kick a man when he’s down!': Piers Morgan lambasted for poking fun at KO'd Darren Till

Journalist and online provocateur Piers Moran wasted little time in renewing his online spat with UFC star Darren Till following the Englishman's devastating knockout defeat against Jorge Masvidal at UFC London on Saturday night.

Till, who was a heavy favorite entering the welterweight contest with Masvidal in London's O2 Arena, was knocked cold by a left-hand just after the midpoint of the second round in one of the more shocking finishes to a fight in recent UFC history.

The Liverpudlian remained prone on the canvas for several minutes following the knockout as medical personnel administered oxygen to him before he was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. 

The 16,000 strong crowd inside the arena, the overwhelming majority of whom were Till fans, was immediately silenced by the fight's stunning outcome.

Many of those who witnessed the fight have taken to social media to wish Till well and credit him for what was later judged as the 'Fight of the Night', including his opponent, but one person who wasn't quite so supportive of his countryman was 'Good Morning Britain' host and part-time Twitter troll Piers Morgan.

Both Till and Morgan have been embroiled in one of the more unlikely online feuds in recent weeks, with both men hurling 240-character or less insults at each other culminating on a Sunday tweet from Morgan in which he appears to gloat about the knockout defeat suffered by Till the night prior.

Morgan's tweet was in apparent retaliation to a series of messages from Till in which he ridiculed Morgan's appearance and love life, and also said that the journalist "need[s] a smack in the chin that’s what you need."

The source for this animosity, beyond back and forth insults, is not certain though Morgan's past association with 'The Sun' newspaper is understood to have made him a deeply unpopular figure in Liverpool, Till's home, following erroneous accusations made by the publication in the wake of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

Morgan's message, which was posted on Sunday afternoon, has been received furiously by members of the UK mixed martial arts community.

Till has yet to comment on his social media accounts following the defeat but it stands to reason that this particular back-and-forth will continue for some time yet.

Piers Morgan, meanwhile, is no stranger to these Twitter tete-a-tete's and has frequently drawn the ire of sports figures such as Gary Lineker and Raheem Sterling for his outspoken comments.