CONOR McGREGOR went toe to toe with Virgin chief Richard Branson as the pair stripped to the waist in front of shocked onlookers in Dublin.
It’s been a trying few weeks for Branson, with accusations of sexism against his Virgin Trains social media team and incurring the wrath of the Daily Mail for ditching the paper from his trains' shops.
The last thing the 67-year-old could do with was having to square up to Irish MMA star McGregor.
However before you feel too sorry for the multi-billionaire, it was all in jest.
Branson was presenting McGregor, 29, with a lifetime achievement award at the Pendulum Summit in Dublin, a business and self-empowerment event.
After Branson said McGregor had to take his shirt off before receiving the award, the UFC lightweight champion ripped off his top.
Branson then removed his shirt before the pair squared up and pretended to throw punches at each other.
McGregor posted an image of the bizarre event to his Instagram account, saying: “He is no knighted sir on this soil.”
While McGregor may have gone easy on Branson, Twitter didn’t…
I hope you had a word with him about @VirginTrains customer service procedures.
— Callum Price (@thecallumprice) 10 January 2018
Can you ask him why he sued the #NHS? And also to stop trying to privatise it as well please buddy!
— Thomas Kaufman (@therealktash) 10 January 2018
@richardbranson shouldn't be knighted on this soil either after all the money he is ripping off from the taxpayer #ripoffrichard #BoycottVirgin
— Mark (@SUD5_McDUFF) 10 January 2018
Did he ask you for a 3 million pound deposit to go to the moon and then not deliver
— Lord Of Terror (@LordOfTerrorYT) 10 January 2018
However some who were less impressed by the showdown called for McGregor to sort out a real fight with Tony Ferguson or Khabib Nurmagomedov:
squaring up to OAP's but running scared from Tony and Khabib #DefendorVacate
— Joey (@TammyBaebraham) 10 January 2018
Quit beating on old men and fight Tony or Khabib.
— TJ Johnston (@TJJohnston88) 10 January 2018
Com' on Connor,it's time!! @TheNotoriousMMA vs. @TeamKhabib all fans want this fight
— Mementomori (@Lozcro7) 10 January 2018