We were expecting fireworks at this evening's Conor McGregor v Nate Diaz II press conference from Las Vegas and that is certainly what we got.
Conor McGregor, who was 30 minutes late for the press conference, was only on stage for a matter of minutes before the conference descended into chaos with bottles being thrown between the McGregor and Diaz, along with his entourage.
While McGregor was answering a question from the press, Diaz walked off stage towards the exit where, flanked now by his brother Nick, began hurling insults and, eventually a water bottle, towards the Irishman.
This prompted a furious McGregor to throw numerous bottles back towards Diaz while UFC president Dana White frantically asked the two fighters to stop before deciding to end the press conference early.
Watch the clip in full below:
The reaction to the incident on Twitter has been understandably mixed. Some, like MMA analyst Robin Black, have criticised the pair for their "disgusting behaviour for martial artists", while others have wondered out loud as to exactly how many more pay-per-view sales the incident will generate. The UFC, meanwhile, have responded in curious fashion on their own Twitter account.
It will be interesting to see if Dana White, who seemed throughout the press conference to be displaying a lack of patience towards McGregor's antics, will take any discliplinary action towards either fighter for what could be considered a clear violation of behaviour fighters are expected to display at official UFC events such as this.
Nate's brother Nick was removed from a fight against Georges St-Pierre for failing to turn up to a press conference - a fate which also befell McGregor earlier this year after his reluctance to participate in a UFC 200 press conference. Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier were also severely censured for their brawl in the MGM Grand at the UFC 178 in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Interestingly, Diaz had previously criticised several members of the UFC for failing to stand up for themselves when confronted by McGregor in press conferences, even saying prior to the their UFC 196 main event that if he had been at that press conference he would have "tossed" a bottle at McGregor.
Well, he got his chance today but it remains to be seen what - if any - the fallout will be from this.
That #ufc202 press conference was gross. For shame @NateDiaz209 + @TheNotoriousMMA. Disgusting behavior for Martial Artists.
— Robin Black (@robinblackmma) August 17, 2016
Not even close. There was absolutely nothing fake about that. That's why it was compelling. https://t.co/e8zBSwyHXQ
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) August 17, 2016
How many PPV buys will the press conference spat be worth?
— Josh Gross (@yay_yee) August 17, 2016
