Tyron Woodley and Jake Paul's rivalry began with a backstage confrontation in Atlanta and could yet spawn a trilogy series in the ring.
The pair first met in the changing rooms at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Atlanta, Georgia as the YouTuber was having his hands wrapped for his bout with Ben Askren.
Woodley was cornering his pal and training partner Askren for his boxing debut, and was in Paul's changing room to watch his preparations, as is customary for big boxing matches.
And Paul's trainer J'Leon Love, who returns to the ring tonight on the undercard, mocked Woodley for his lack of boxing knowledge, joking that he didn't know about the sport's 10oz gloves.
Woodley opted to keep his cool, having been warned before the fight by his mother, a beloved figure in MMA circles, that he could be goaded into an argument.
“Before going out to Atlanta, my mom said, ‘I’m praying for you, I got a feeling somebody is trying to be getting all up in you,' Woodley told ESPN of the incident.
“So when I went to check Jake’s gloves and the person [J'Leon Love] who had never spoken, ever, walks around and said, ‘You don’t know nothing about these gloves’ and it is in that clip that everybody has seen.
“First thing Jake said to me was, ‘You’re here for clout,' and I said, ‘Don’t play with me, because you know I don’t f****** play those games.’
"At that point, he froze up and his little act and his character was stifled. Those guys are fans, he know he doesn’t want to play those f****** games because he knows what I could do.”
But Woodley was wrong, and Paul did offer him a fight almost immediately.
After stopping Askren within a round and calling out seemingly the whole of the MMA world, Paul eventually settled on Woodley as his opponent for August 29 at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.
The pair met in Miami during the fight week for Paul's brother Logan's outlandish exhibition with Floyd Mayweather, with a further two press conferences in Los Angeles and Ohio.
And they didn't disappoint in any of their joint media appearances, getting into it verbally, and agreeing to a bet where the loser would get a tattoo declaring their love for the winner.
By fight night, it was undeniable that the fight was one of the most anticipated of the year, with a packed crowd of around 15,000 filing into the Cleveland basketball arena.
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The bout reportedly sold over 500,000 pay-per-view units, putting it right up among the top PPVs of the year alongside Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder 3.
And when Paul could only win by split decision after being nearly dropped in the fourth, the rivalry didn't end.
Woodley and Paul agreed in principle to an immediate rematch in the ring, provided Woodley got the tattoo they had wagered on in the build-up.
However, despite Woodley getting inked on the inside of his left middle finger, the YouTuber instead opted to face Tommy Fury.
This enraged the ex-UFC champion, who committed to fighting four times in 2022 in four separate disciplines, and began training for a January bout in October.
And when Fury pulled out of the bout with Paul, Woodley immediately accepted the rematch on just two weeks' notice.
In just a few hours, either Paul will put the rivalry to bed, or Paul will extend it into 2022.
