UFC 316 star Sean O'Malley once has a tribute to fan favorite Nate Diaz in a unique way.
O'Malley will challenge DvalishHvili on UFC 316 on Saturday, because the couple has cunted the newest pay-per-view of the promotion in the Prudential Center of Newark.
'Sugar' has long been seen as one of the greatest stars of the UFC, after he has built up his reputation in and out of the Octagon since he announced himself in a huge way with a viral version in the Contender Series of Dana White.
O'Malley has rarely missed an opportunity to get the headlines in the years since then, even when he risked the wrath of UFC and Fox by repeating a controversial moment of the younger Diaz brother.
Sean O'Malley paid tribute to Nate Diaz by removing a joint during UFC broadcast
It is common for the UFC to show remarkable names in the crowd during the broadcast, from active hunters and retired legends to celebrities and other sports stars.
Individuals often keep it simple with a smile and a nod, maybe a fist pump. Diaz, however, caused a commotion while he was present at UFC Austin in February 2018 when he brought out a joint.
Personal use of marijuana was and remains illegal in the state of Texas, so many conclude that the UFC and the then broadcaster, Fox, were probably less than satisfied with Diaz's actions.
For that reason, O'Malley may have played a risky game when he replicated five events later in Arizona. 'Sugar' took out a joint in the same way while he was shown on the broadcast alongside teammate Mackenzie Dern.
During a subsequent appearance on the MMA with Ariel Helwani, O'Malley described the moment and admitted that he had expected some unfortunate faces from UFC employees.
“Where they sat us was exactly in the UFC section, so I thought they would do that [put me on camera]”O'Malley said.” Eventually they come to us and said, “Hey, we're going to shoot you a little here, we'll let you know.” I had something like: “This is a perfect timing.”
'I kept smiling [UFC official] Heidi [Dean] Who just told us that we would be on the camera because I knew she would not be happy with me, but she was not too angry. She was the one who said, “Okay, you will be on the camera in 3,2,1, and I kept smiling at her, but she didn't know why, but I think she did that then. '
Nate Diaz still had a UFC moment with marijuana
UFC Austin was not the only memorable Diaz moment with a joint.
The Stockton star also seemed to be smoking during his open training for UFC 241. Diaz dominated Anthony Pettis during the event in what his first fight marked since he lost Conor McGregor three years earlier.
Fans who were present before the training loved the moment, but concern arose briefly about drug tests.
Diaz claimed that the joint that he smoked contained cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive cannabinoid in the factory, which he used as a promotion for a new company called Game Up Nutrition.
The website of the company noted that products contain less than 0.03 percent, which means that Diaz would not be reached in his urine for a failed USADA test near the 150 NG/ML Tetrahydrocannabinol threshold.