Paddy Pimblett and Ilia Topuria were held back by security during the UFC 282 press conference to prevent another scuffle from breaking out between them.
The UFC rivals had previously came to blows in a hotel lobby before their respective fights in London earlier this year. Topuria was angered by comments Pimblett made about his home country of Georgia, as the Scouser had joked about Russians "terrorising Georgians' lives". Pimblett threw a hand sanitiser bottle off Topuria's head in the exchange which has since led to him nicknaming the fighter "hand sanitiser boy".
Expanding on comments he made about Pimblett being "escorted out the back door" to avoid a repeat of their meeting in London, Topuria said at the press conference: "He just quits when he sees me coming. You wanna talk to me man to man, you said something about me and then I went to your country and slapped your face. I walked like a king in your city and what did you do? Shut up."
