Conor McGregor threw a drink at Machine Gun Kelly on the VMAs red carpet, then called him a 'little vanilla boy'

• Conor McGregor was seen on video throwing a drink at Machine Gun Kelly on Sunday.
• It went down during a tumultuous red-carpet walk ahead of the VMAs in New York.
• The fighter's publicist denied it was because the rapper had declined to take a selfie with McGregor.

Conor McGregor appeared to throw a drink at the rapper Machine Gun Kelly on the red carpet before the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The former two-weight UFC champion attended the event in a pink suit and walked with a cane, as he continues his rehabilitation from the broken leg he sustained during a first-round knockout loss to Dustin Poirier in July.

But before McGregor, 33, even entered the ceremony, he was seen on video getting into an altercation with Kelly.

TMZ Sports described sources as saying that McGregor had wanted to take a photo with Kelly, known for singles like "Wild Boy," "Alpha Omega," and "Rap Devil," in which he dissed Eminem in 2018.

Kelly appeared to be in no mood to entertain McGregor's advances - according to TMZ's sources, he rejected the selfie request.

The gossip website said the musician escalated things by pushing McGregor, who spilled his drink when he stumbled back.

The ESPN reporter Marc Raimondi tweeted that "photos and videos from the scene show McGregor throwing a drink and both sides being separated."

Here's footage of McGregor throwing the drink:

Raimondi said McGregor's spokesperson, Karen Kessler, denied that McGregor wanted a photo with the rapper.

"Conor McGregor did not ask anyone for a picture, nor did he instigate this incident," Kessler said, according to Raimondi. "He does not know Machine Gun Kelly, outside of the fact that he attended Conor's fight this past July."

McGregor spoke with Entertainment Tonight about the incident.

"I just showed up, and I don't know. I don't even know the guy," McGregor said.

He added: "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."

Kelly declined to comment to Variety - he said "Ha!" in a strange voice and slapped the microphone out of his way.

Fox, Kelly's partner, could be heard saying that they were "not allowed" to talk about it.

Kelly went on to perform "Papercuts" alongside Travis Barker at the awards show.

McGregor, meanwhile, could be seen smiling while Justin Bieber picked up the award for artist of the year.