‘F*** Haiden Deegan’ Jett and Hunter Lawrence make feelings clear on Yamaha rookie

HRC Honda's Australian Lawrence brothers are nothing short of sensational in the world of motocross. Hunter, the older of the pair, made a name for himself on the MXGP circuit before transitioning over to AMA where he won the Supercross 250cc East and 250cc Motocross titles before moving up to the 450 class. He challenged Ken Roczen for the 2026 450cc Supercross title and narrowly fell short on the final race. However, he has continued his strong form in the Motocross portion of the season and currently leads the championship standings.

His younger brother, Jett, is already going down in the history books as one of the greatest dirt riders of all time. Not only did he win everything there is to win in the 250 class, he also won his rookie 450 season with an incredible undefeated record. Out of the 30 Motocross starts in his career, he has won 26 races, which really highlights just how phenomenal the 22-year-old is. However, he suffered a massive injury during training before the 2026 season and was sidelined for the entire Supercross portion. In the Motocross events he has still won two of the opening five rounds, but it is clear to see that he hasn't been performing at his best.

Enter Haiden Deegan. Son of the legendary Brian Deegan and boasting a die-hard cohort of fans on account of his 1.5 million-subscriber YouTube channel, Haiden made light work of the 250 class in the Lawrence brothers' absence and made the step up to the 450 class just months ago.

Deegan isn't the quiet type. Even in defeat he manages to spin a positive story, and despite some high expectations that he might be able to compete with Jett's meteoric rise in the category, Deegan has managed consistent podiums but is yet to achieve his first 450 win.

Haiden Deegan didn't just move up to the 450 class like any other rookie 250 champion. He came with a reputation as already being a fierce and combative racer who isn't afraid to launch his opponents into the grandstands if they sit between him and victory. On top of that, continuous trash talk aimed at Jett Lawrence in particular made for a generational rivalry before the two had even squared-off on the track.

At the opening round of the season, Deegan even rocked up to the circuit wearing a shirt with 'RIP Jett' and a crude message targetted at Jett's girlfriend scribbled on it in marker pen.

The Lawrence's appear to prefer to do their talking on the track, and have hardly mentioned Deegan by name whatsoever. At the High Point race, the first sparks began to fly when Deegan and Lawrence got into a spat during qualifying, purposefully cutting each other off. Jett then showed the middle finger to Deegan after crashing when the Yamaha youngester rode past him and supposedly made a sarcastic remark.

In terms of the on-track action, it's Hunter who has been dishing it out to Deegan more often than not. However, when all is said and done, the majority of races so far in the 2026 Pro Motocross season have ended with a Lawrence brothers 1-2 and Deegan trailing within the top six.

At last weekend's round in RedBud, following another 1-2 finish with Hunter on top, the Lawrence brothers could be seen giving a thumbs up gesture when a member of the crowd screamed "F*** Haiden Deegan". While the Australian brothers didn't utter the phrase themselves, it is the first time they have really expressed such a hostile sentiment.

As we head to this weekend's round in Southwick, Massachusetts, a track Deegan singled out at the start of the year as one of his favourites, we could potentially see the pendulum swing Yamaha's way.