When The Notorious met the notorious leader
Conor McGregor is undoubtedly one of the most confident, and seemingly fearless, personalities in world sport.
His dynamic fighting style, along with his brashness outside the octagon, has seen the Irishman pocket millions.
But when the two-weight UFC champion met Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018, he wasn’t quite himself.
McGregor and Putin were in Moscow for the 2018 World Cup final.
Their exchange was captured for McGregor’s YouTube channel ‘TheMacLife’ where the two were seen having a brief conversation before posing for pictures.
McGregor was, not surprisingly, uncharacteristically reserved in the video that started re-circulating again this week as Putin made renewed moves in Ukraine.
In one picture, McGregor made the mistake of putting his arm on Putin’s shoulder. One of the president’s security team then appeared to tell the ‘Notorious One’ off.
Another picture was then taken, with McGregor instead opting to place his hands in front of him
The pair then shook hands.
At the time, McGregor posted on Instagram about the meeting, with the 33-year-old writing that Putin was “one of the greatest leaders of our time”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlQwXEBAHlN/?utm_source=ig_embed
“Today I was invited to the World Cup final as a guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin,” McGregor wrote.
“This man is one of the greatest leaders of our time and I was honored to attend such a landmark event alongside him.
“Today was an honor for me Mr Putin. Thank you and congratulations on an amazing World Cup. Россия вперёд!”
Putin currently has the world on edge, with Russian forces invading Ukraine.
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