Staff forced to intervene in backstage clash between Michael Bisping and Jorge Masvidal

Michael Bisping and Jorge Masvidal clearly aren't on one another's Christmas card lists.

The fighters might not be in the same weight classes but that hasn't prevented them from engaging in a feud throughout the week leading up to UFC 217. Bisping defends his UFC middleweight title against pound-for-pound great Georges St-Pierre in the main event of one of the cards of the year while Masvidal will take on Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson on Saturday night in Madison Square Garden. There seems to be little chance of Bisping and Masvidal settling their differences in the Octagon in the future but that's not to say that they won't end up scrapping at some point in New York City because, to put it lightly, they don't like each other very much. The pair had to be pulled apart earlier in fight week after a war of words threatened to boil over, with Masvidal referring to Bisping as a "faggot" in the lobby of the fighter hotel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlBmGLKpUZw "I honestly don’t know who he is," Bisping said of the initial incident, which took place on Wednesday. "He’s been chatting some shit. I was like, who’s this weird looking motherfucker with the straight hairline and Wolverine fucking sideburns? "Someone had to tell me who he was. I don’t know. The guy’s got a chip on his shoulder. I’ve heard he’s a piece of shit. He certainly acts like one." Well it will surprise absolutely nobody to discover that the hostility carried on into Friday, when all 24 fighters on the UFC 217 card weighed in on point. https://twitter.com/GamebredFighter/status/886956576535392256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloodyelbow.com%2F2017%2F11%2F1%2F16419002%2Fufc-217-michael-bisping-jorge-masvidal-war-words-heated-hotel-mma-news The second altercation of fight week occurred prior to the early morning weigh-ins and, this time, the UFC's PR staff had to intervene to ensure that the fighters didn't get their hands on one another.

Prior to the early weigh ins Michael Bisping and Jorge Masvidal had another run in, again captured by @Abraham_kawa. https://t.co/GnyeJ5G5ga pic.twitter.com/z1l5OsM0I0

— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) November 3, 2017