Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa were moments away from trading blows as tempers flared between middleweight fighters at the weigh-in ahead of their title fight at UFC 253 on Sunday (NZ time).
The Nigerian-born Kiwi will put his title on the line for the second time against Brazilian Costa at 'Fight Island' in Abu Dhabi, after successfully defending it against Cuban Yoel Romero in March.
Both men made weight for the highly-anticipated contest with Adesanya coming in at 184lbs (83.4kg) and Costa at 185lbs (83.9kg).
Both fighters then got close for the traditional staredown and Costa was wearing his Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt.
He proceeded to go into his pocket and pull out a white belt - which is traditionally given to beginners of jiu-jitsu - and handed it to Adesanya.
Adesanya retaliated and threw it back at Costa, but UFC boss Dana White stuck his arm in the way, and both fighters were pulled away.
Aesanay could be heard saying "I'll knock your ass out" while he flapped his legs and arms in the air, making chicken noises as he was pulled away.
Costa claimed his opponent was "scared".
Earlier this week, the pair had an argument over jiu-jitsu while discussing each other's grappling credentials.
Both Adesanya (19-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) and Costa (13-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) are unbeaten inside the Octagon, and earlier this week, White billed it as the "fight of the year".
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