This weekend, the UFC heads to Glendale, Arizona, with its much-anticipated Noche Fight Night event, and things are already getting heated. Two undefeated prospects, Tommy McMillen (11-0) and Marwan Rahiki (9-0), engaged in a serious confrontation ahead of their fight that quickly escalated into a physical altercation.

Recently, a viral video showed McMillen and Rahiki going face-to-face while trading barbs at the UFC Noche fighters’ hotel. Both fighters were surrounded by people when they suddenly started pushing each other. Thankfully, nobody suffered any injuries as security quickly rushed in and separated the featherweights. Following that tense episode, ‘Gun’ revealed his side of what happened.   

“I popped up here in the elevator, and that’s the first kid I saw,” McMillen said during the UFC Noche media day. “And he was there with eight of his teammates. And I’m sitting here with my little brother, John, and my striking coach, JJ. And I got right in his face right away. He tried to touch me. I pushed him out of my face. And, you know, I told him he looks like a scrawny little b—h. 

“And Saturday night, I’m going to make him look like my little brother. And then, yeah. So, I mean, I think I already kind of proved that wrong. Security had to break it up. I don’t like that kid. He doesn’t like me. He thinks this is all fun and games. Like, I’m the kid that will actually go fight this kid in a parking lot. He’s not like that at all.”  

The clip of the altercation showed McMillen telling Rahiki, “Don’t f—ing touch me, bro,” but the two still moved closer before starting to push each other. However, the 28-year-old didn’t clarify what actually prompted the heated run-in in the first place. Still, we can figure the altercation stemmed from the pre-fight trash talk that had been going on. 

In a recent interview with CBS, Rahiki stated that he expects to finish the fight in the “first or second” round, citing his opponent’s tendency to make crucial mistakes during fights. In fact, the Moroccan-Australian believes being 24 years old gives him an advantage over McMillen, who is 28. Because of this, the hotel altercation clip further showed ‘Gun’ accusing Rahiki of “running his mouth” ahead of the fight.  

At UFC Noche, one of them will finally lose their undefeated status, so, understandably, tensions have been running high between them. But this is the first time the two have been involved in a physical altercation. Despite that, McMillen remains a brash personality because he previously used his trash talk against Alberto Montes in his last fight.

However, they are far from the first fighters to confront each other at a UFC fighters’ hotel.  Four months ago, another high-profile feud unfolded in a similar situation before a massive event.  

Josh Hokit confronted Alex Pereira at UFC fighter’s hotel ahead of White House event 

From the day Alex Pereira announced his move to heavyweight, Josh Hokit has been relentlessly critical of the Brazilian legend. The Californian never misses an opportunity to take shots at the former champ. He was even escorted out of the UFC White House early press conference in Newark over his derogatory remarks about Pereira’s mother that resulted in a brief scuffle with Ilia Topuria.

Following that dramatic ending, Hokit and Pereira became entangled in another heated confrontation. Right before the Freedom 250 card, both heavyweights arrived at the fighters’ hotel in DC, and the 28-year-old snapped the moment he spotted ‘Poatan’. Hokit started hurling insults at the former two-division champion in front of the entire UFC crew.

“Hey, what’s up, dog!” Hokit said. “You’re a p—y. That’s why you don’t say anything. P—y!”

While Hokit was screaming at the top of his lungs and moving toward the elevator with his teammate, Pereira stoically ignored him and kept moving forward without even looking his way. ‘Poatan’ fought Ciryl Gane at the White House card, while Hokit faced Derrick Lewis. So, the Brazilian wisely decided not to engage with someone who wasn’t his opponent. In doing so, he chose to save the UFC from a nuisance before an important event.

But sometimes tensions can get the better of fighters when they are competing against each other, which was the case with Tommy McMillen and Marwan Rahiki. Now, it remains to be seen whether their altercation before the fight can translate into a barn burner on September 12th.