The long-awaited fight between Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva is set to take place this weekend at Bellator NYC. The two rivals will meet in the main event of the evening on Saturday night, live on pay-per-view.

During the Bellator NYC press conference on Thursday, things got physical as the two opposing figures faced off for the first time since their Bellator fight was announced. As the two got closer for their staredown, Silva pushed Sonnen with one hand while Bellator boss Scott Coker was in between the two. Security was also on stage and held both Sonnen and Silva from getting at each other before their fight on Saturday.

“I wanted to get right in the middle of that because I didn’t want anything bad to happen,” Coker told MMAjunkie following their staredown. “When Chael had that water bottle, I was like, ‘Oh, I know where this is going.’ We don’t need any headaches like that. Let’s let the fight happen on Saturday.”

As for when things got physical, Coker said that it wasn’t severe enough to put the fight in any danger. However, the Bellator boss knows that things could have escalated quickly from there.

“One shove – that’s OK,” Coker said. “But if it got any worse – I don’t want the fight to happen here at the press conference when they could get hurt. Then what? The fight’s off? I always tell the guys, I whisper in their ear, ‘Hey guys, no one gets paid tonight. Everyone gets paid on Saturday night. So keep that in mind when you’re doing your thing.’”

Coker added that he believes Silva is much more invested emotionally in the fight than Sonnen.

“I just feel the anger in Wanderlei. But he fights like that all the time. At the end of the day, I think we are going to have a great fight on Saturday.”

Who are you picking to win the main event between Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva at Bellator NYC this weekend? Let’s get your predictions in the comment section!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/22/2017.