There are conflicting reports of what went down
The Irish attendee at last night's MTV VMA Awards in New York appeared to get involved in an altercation with the rapper on the red carpet.
There are conflicting reports of what actually went down at the red carpet of last night's MTV VMA Awards in New York City. Conor McGregor and rapper Machine Gun Kelly appeared to nearly have fisticuffs while fans watched on (with video phones set to record).
Last night's VMAs saw artists such as Lil Nas X, Foo Fighters, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and more be honoured for their contributions to the music industry over the past year, with a number of performances on the night from the likes of host Doja Cat, Ed Sheeran and Alicia Keys.
However, before the show kicked off, there was a pre-show scuffle on the red carpet which overshadowed the night. From pictures taken of the incident, it appears that Conor McGregor and Machine Gun Kelly had words with each other, which led to tension between both men, leading them to be "pulled apart" by security. There is also video evidence of Conor throwing a drink towards the rapper.
Sources who spoke about the incident have painted conflicting images of what went down. According to Entertainment Weekly, a rep for Conor said MGK's security "overreacted".
A source told both PEOPLE and TMZ that McGregor had asked for a picture with MGK, which was turned down. Then there was a push against Conor, "and a drink was spilled".
A follow-up statement to EW said the UFC fighter: "NEVER asked for a photo. Totally untrue. Conor does not know MGK other than someone who attended his last fight. When pushed, the drink flew out of [Conor's] hand along with the cane."
When asked what happened by Entertainment Tonight after the kerfuffle, Conor said: "Absolutely nothing. I don’t know. He showed up, and I don’t know. I don’t know the guy. Nothing happened with me, I only fight real fighters, people that actually fight, you know what I mean.
"I certainly don’t fight little vanilla boy rappers. I don’t even know the guy. I don’t know anything about him, except that he’s with Megan Fox."
When Machine Gun Kelly was asked about the incident, the rapper exclaimed, tapped the microphone, and walked away from the interview.
Following their testosterone-fuelled handbags at dawn, both men made appearances during the VMAs later that evening. Conor McGregor went on to present the award for Artist of the Year, which went to Justin Bieber (a category his red carpet adversary was also nominated for), while Machine Gun Kelly performed on the night and won Best Alternative Award for 'My Ex's Best Friend'.