UFC star Khamzat Chimaev claims he travelled to Ireland to "beat up" Conor McGregor over comments the Dubliner made about Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Chimaev has been one of the most talked about MMA fighters in recent weeks after two first round wins just ten days apart, but was relatively unknown when he travelled to Dublin a number of years ago.
Chimaev says he was stopped at Dublin Airport and held in a cell for eight hours before being sent back to his native Sweden.
He told Adam Zubayraev: "At that time, I was fighting as an amateur or a pro record of 1-0 when that happened.
"It is that time when he insulted Khabib, and he also was talking about Zubaira (Tukhugov). At that time, nobody knew who I was. He was also talking about another guy who's also Chechen.
"I don't remember his name, but he told us he knocked him out in a sparring session. My mind was blowing up at the moment, but I'm living here very close to him. I was thinking that I would catch him in the streets or at the gym and beat him up. This is what he deserved."
He added: "Yes, I landed in Ireland and waited in an airport. First, they stopped me a while, and then slightly they told me to go. Then I was going out. When I was going out from the airport, they stopped me again.
"That time, there were guys literally in uniform... Yes, there were, and they told me, 'You cannot go anywhere.'
"But I didn't get what they meant. At that time, my English was very bad. Even right now, it's not that good... They drove me to the police station and kept me for eight hours.
"No, there wasn't any interrogation at all. I was just kept in a cell. I waited for maybe eight or nine hours. I was doing push-ups and squats. They didn't even bring me food. Then after a while, they told me, 'You have to go back to Sweden.'
"They continued, 'We'll bring you back to the airport where the plane is waiting for you.' They brought me back to airport and sent me back home."
Chimaev, who defeated Antrim native Rhys McKee last weekend, insists he travelled to Ireland to "beat up" McGregor.
He said: "Honestly speaking, I wanted to beat him up.
"Many people thought I was coming there to help him to prepare for Khabib... Not only for Khabib. I was coming there to protect our pride and honor. I was going there for all of us. If that would not have happened, I would have maybe thrown, I don't know, some object... I think I was able to stand for myself."
