PHOTOS | Conor McGregor meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin

Former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor is currently in Russia, where he attended the World Cup final. He’s also using this Russian visit to build a “Russian compound,” whatever that means…

As it turns out, McGregor was invited to the World Cup final as a guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Shortly after the game wrapped up, McGregor took to Instagram to share a few photos of his meeting with Putin, and offer his thanks to the Russian President.

See McGregor’s post below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlQwXEBAHlN/

“Today I was invited to the World Cup final as a guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin,” Conor McGregor said in his post. “This man is one of the greatest leaders of our time and I was honored to attend such a landmark event alongside him. Today was an honor for me Mr. Putin. Thank you and congratulations on an amazing World Cup.”

Interestingly, Russia’s own Khabib Nurmagomedov, who currently owns the UFC lightweight title, was also at the world cup — though apparently not as Putin’s guest.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlQhuPDnix5/

At the time of this writing, there have been no reports of the arch rivals Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov crossing paths, but I think we’re all hoping it happens while they’re both in the Russian capital. What better way to expedite the negotiations for a potential fight between them than a little face-time?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/15/2018.