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Conor McGregor Felt Fear For The First Time When He Put His Arm Around Vladimir Putin

Home> Football

Updated 13:56 22 Feb 2022 GMTPublished 12:34 22 Feb 2022 GMT

Conor McGregor Felt Fear For The First Time When He Put His Arm Around Vladimir Putin

Conor McGregor met Russia president Vladimir Putin at the 2018 World Cup final.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

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One of the biggest and most confident personalities in sport, if not the world, Conor McGregor carries himself differently to everybody else.

He gets punched, kicked and choked inside a cage for a living and has made millions in the process. Intense as ever, there's never really been an opponent who made McGregor tremble.

Even rival Khabib Nurmagomedov, despite beating him comfortably, didn't faze the Irishman all that much.

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But the one time McGregor showed a bit of fear was when in the company of Russia president Vladimir Putin.

The two-weight UFC champion was in attendance in Moscow for the 2018 World Cup final and met with the 70-year-old ahead of France's 4-2 win over Croatia.

Image: PA
Image: PA

Their exchange was captured for McGregor's YouTube channel 'TheMacLife' and the two were seen having a brief conversation.

They then had a picture together but McGregor made the mistake of putting his arm on the shoulder of Putin.

One of his security appeared to tell the Notorious One there was to be none of that and McGregor's facial expression changed dramatically.

The pair took the picture with McGregor's hands in front and he looked visibly nervous and uncomfortable for a few seconds.

A handshake and a pat did ensue before McGregor went on his way. The 33-year-old posted on Instagram about meeting Putin, who he called "one of the greatest leaders of our time".

"Today I was invited to the World Cup final as a guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin," McGregor wrote.

"This man is one of the greatest leaders of our time and I was honored to attend such a landmark event alongside him.

"Today was an honor for me Mr. Putin. Thank you and congratulations on an amazing World Cup.

Россия вперёд!"

Both McGregor and Khabib were both at the Luzhniki Stadium for the final four years but given their hatred for one another, it's probably for the best that they didn't cross paths.

Featured Image Credit: Image: TheMacLife

Topics: Conor McGregor, UFC, Khabib Nurmagomedov

Josh Lawless
Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and WWE. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has covered two WrestleMania events for SPORTbible.

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@joshlawless_

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