An angry Dagestani fan appeared to throw a shoe at Conor McGregor as the Irish fighter addressed reporters in The Ritz Hotel, Moscow.
The 31-year-old, who announced his eagerly-awaited UFC return during an eventful press conference on Thursday, also launched a verbal attack on lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, which seemingly sparked the backstage incident.
A fan can be heard shouting: "Me and my brothers are cowards? Me, and my people and my father are cowards? What (did we) do to you?" before throwing the object.
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McGregor then responded to the fan, saying: "Shut up, you fool" as he was ushered away by security.
McGregor had kind words for Russia and its people, but was far from complementary about his long term rival.
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He accused Nurmagomedov of running and hiding from a Moscow showdown while aiming numerous digs at the undefeated Dagestan fighter.
"Where's my location? The Ritz Carlton." he said. "I'm in the Ritz Carlton if anyone wants my location, right in downtown Moscow. Where is he right now? I believe he's out of the country. I fly in, he flies out. Typical of the Dagestani man."
He then aimed a dig at Dagestan when asked if he'd visited the area. "I wouldn't go to Dagestan to take a s**t. And that is the truth."
It didn't stop there. McGregor aimed further digs at Khabib during the press conference.
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"He is afraid of the Moscow bout for whatever reason. I'm not sure, does he represent Russia? I'm not sure if he does represent Russia," the Irishman said a press conference.
"I have never seen the man represent Russia in my life. Have you ever seen the man raise a Russian flag like I raise the Irish flag, with pride? I have never seen it once in my life. He is running from the bout in Moscow.
"The public want it, the people want it, his own father wants it. He does not want it, he wants to bring a man down to a weight he has never competed at before, even though he himself has almost died making that weight. He is afraid of risk.
"A man who fears risk will conquer nothing long lasting; there will be no longevity in his career as he does not take risk at all. His last opponent was a former featherweight, which I knocked out in 90-seconds. I knocked that man out in under 90-seconds and it took him three-rounds to get the job done. This is an inevitable rematch, we know this, we know it's happening.
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"He can run - and he does run - it's in the nature of the Dagestani man to run, every great Russian knows this about the Dagestani men, every Chechen knows this about the Dagestani men - they run and they cower," "That's it, and that's what you're seeing with Khabib, he is running and he is cowering away like he did in Brooklyn when I showed up that day. It's an inevitable rematch.
"I will tell him this: you can run, but you cannot hide. You see him last week, or whenever it was, he ran out of the press conference...he scurried out of the press conference here in Moscow. It's in his nature, but trust me, I am coming for him. But forget him for the minute, like I said, January 18 - the return of a fully focused 'Notorious' Conor McGregor will take place in the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada."
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