Chris Judd has kept his cool under provocation from an aggressive man while dining at a Lygon Street restaurant.

Judd was dining at Melbourne’s Sea Salt restaurant when a man wearing an Essendon jumper approached and asked to fight the Carlton star.

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“Obviously I’ve got no interest in really fighting anyone, particularly strangers I don’t know,” Judd told Nine News.

Judd did his best to diffuse the situation, but conceded the incident was “pretty close to coming to blows.”

“My mind was generally racing around the fact that I can’t do anything to this bloke unless I get assaulted first,” he said.

According to a report by Fairfax, the incident occurred two weeks ago.

The emergence of the story comes hot on the heels of Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson’s brush with a Port Adelaide supporter that saw him lash out with a forceful push to the man’s neck.

That incident is still under investigation by South Australian police.