Tommy McMillen and Marwan Rahiki needed to be separated by UFC security after a heated confrontation in a Glendale-area hotel lobby, three days before the two undefeated featherweights meet at Noche UFC. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck first reported the incident, and video of the exchange has since circulated online.
Footage credited to JTMedia shows McMillen and Rahiki arguing at close range in the lobby. In the clip, McMillen calls Rahiki a “pussy,” tells him he “thought we’d be friends,” and accuses him of “running his mouth.” Rahiki responds that McMillen runs his mouth just as much.
McMillen also tells Rahiki the card is “my show,” pointing to his own platform heading into the bout. People nearby can be seen filming and stepping between the two fighters before the argument goes any further.
The lobby video followed an earlier account McMillen gave of a separate run-in with Rahiki in an elevator the same day. Full Send MMA posted McMillen’s version hours before the longer clip surfaced, in which he said he “punked” Rahiki in front of eight of Rahiki’s friends and added that he would fight him in front of the whole team.
McMillen (11-0) and Rahiki (9-0) are both unbeaten finishers heading into Saturday’s main card at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. McMillen trains alongside Sean O’Malley in Arizona, while Rahiki, born in Morocco, fights out of Australia. The two had already been trading shots over power and volume striking ahead of fight week.
Reaction to the hotel footage has been mixed, with many replies online treating the exchange as promotion for Saturday’s fight rather than a genuine near-brawl.
