The rivalry between Conor McGregor and Paulie Malignaggi originated in 2017 and boiled over on fight week before the Irishman’s clash with Floyd Mayweather.
Malignaggi famously helped the UFC star prepare for his crossover boxing bout, only for footage of their sparring sessions to be publicly leaked by McGregor’s team.
McGregor and Malignaggi clashedFightHub
The American still disputes an apparent knockdown shown in one of the clips, and the pair became bitter enemies as a result.
A few weeks after the initial spat, Mayweather vs McGregor fight week came around and Malignaggi was on the scene working as a pundit.
At the first press event, the pair confronted one another and came face-to-face.
McGregor could be heard telling Malignaggi: “Get over it, get over it.
“You got your ass whooped, get over it.”
Paulie Malignaggi confronts Conor McGregor: “Did you bring your balls Conor” pic.twitter.com/XRt1hwdbhb
— Fanatics View (@fanaticsview) August 22, 2017
At this point Malignaggi lost his temper and said: “Did you bring your balls Conor? Did you bring your balls?”
McGregor moved closer and the pair were separated as a result.
Malignaggi told reporters in the immediate aftermath: “I was talking to his manager.
“I said, ‘You know that was low, you know that was a low blow.’
“And he was saying, ‘You talked out of your contract.’
“All [my] words came out after he put up pictures.
“When you post the pictures, you send the media to me, you forced me to have to defend myself.”
