Former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor denies any serious tension between himself and rapper Machine Gun Kelly after the two appeared to go at it on the red carpet of the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards.
McGregor is in the middle of recovery from the devastating knee injury he suffered at UFC 264 against Dustin Poirier and is in the middle of a planned return to the UFC sometime next year. He has still remained in the public eye for a good chunk of his recovery and has engaged in his fair share of back-and-forths in real life and on social media.
McGregor attended this year’s VMAs to hand an award out to his good friend and pop star, Justin Bieber for Artist of the Year. Things got a bit testy on the red carpet after McGregor appeared to throw a bunch at Kelly, but the Irishman is downplaying any beef between the two.
“(There’s) no beef,” McGregor told YouTuber Adam’s Apple in a man on the street interview. “I don’t even know the guy. I don’t even know him. Who is he? You’re telling me he’s been at the fights. Megan has been at the fights (for) years. I know Megan. I don’t know the guy. There’s no problem. Come to the fights.”
Despite the obvious tension at the awards in New York, it appears that McGregor is in good spirits after the hostile encounter with Kelly.
This isn’t the first time that McGregor has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons over the past few months. He’s picked a fair share of Twitter fights with rivals Khabib Nurmagomedov, Poirier, and welterweight contender Nate Diaz. McGregor also took a shot at Nurmagomedov’s deceased father, Abdulmanap who passed away last year due to complications from COVID-19.
What is your reaction to the heated altercation between Conor McGregor and Machine Gun Kelly?