Video: Khabib Nurmagomedov and Artem Lobov in altercation in Brooklyn hotel

Conor McGregor was nowhere to be seen, but longtime friend and SBG Ireland teammate Artem Lobov got into a confrontation with Khabib Nurmagomedov on Tuesday ahead of their respective bouts at UFC 223.

Lobov and Khabib crossed paths at a hotel in Brooklyn, New York, and things almost kicked off between the two Russians.

Both fighters appeared to be cursing each other in Russian, and at one point Nurmagomedov put his left hand on Lobov’s head in what looked to be an effort to diffuse the situation and calm his compatriot down.

Sikjitsu head coach Rick Little recorded the confrontation and uploaded it to YouTube yesterday.

It’s unclear what was said, but it could have been something to do with Nurmagomedov’s trash talk towards McGregor and the ongoing feud between the lightweights.

‘The Eagle’ mocked ‘The Notorious’ for not stepping in at UFC 223 and said the UFC are protecting him.

“I think they want him to look nice,” Nurmagomedov said in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani. “He famous. If I change his face… they won’t take somebody who has crazy face.”

McGregor, who is expected to be stripped of the lightweight title on the eve of UFC 223, targeted Nurmagomedov and the injured Tony Ferguson with a crude joke. “These fools pull out more times than I do with my d-ck,” McGregor posted on Twitter when he got news of Ferguson’s ‘freak injury’.

McGregor, 29, is expected to be in attendance for UFC 223 to support Lobov in his preliminary bout against Alex Caceres.

Nurmagomedov, who was originally expected to face Ferguson, will take on reigning featherweight champ Max Holloway for the ‘undisputed’ lightweight title in the new main event.

The UFC 223 pay-per-view takes place this Saturday, April 7 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.