Fighting superstar Nate Diaz had a problem with a combat sports journalist at UFC 276 on Saturday night.
The Octagon was back at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night and fans witnessed stellar knockouts, technical battles and gutsy performances. However, not all of the evening’s altercations went down inside the cage.
While backstage, Full Send MMA reporter “OG” Shawny Mack pulled Diaz over for an interview. The two seemed cordial at first, with Mack asking Diaz if he was there to support “Sugar” Sean O’Malley. That’s when their conversation turned, however.
Diaz answered, telling Mack to “watch his tweets.”
Then, the man known for the “Stockton slap,” smacked Mack’s microphone and then his hat while pushing the reporter back. The video stopped right after.
Watch the incident below via the embedded YouTube video:
At the time of this writing, it’s unclear what Mack tweeted about that upset Diaz so much.
Diaz has been actively campaigning to the UFC for a fight. He hopes to battle as soon as possible and then test out free agency. He even recently hinted at potentially boxing Jake Paul. The fan-favorite fighter last competed in June 2021 at UFC 263 when he lost a unanimous decision to Leon Edwards.
O’Malley’s Fight Was Ruled a No-Contest After He Accidently Poked Pedro Munhoz in the Eye
The man who Diaz was asked about, Sean O’Malley, competed during the main card opener against No. 9-ranked bantamweight Pedro Munhoz. After a close first round, the fight ended abruptly in the second frame after Munhoz suffered an eye poke which rendered him unable to continue.
The match was ruled a no-contest.
O’Malley (15-1, 1 N/C) spoke with the media after the fact and he called for the UFC to change the glove design.
“We gotta figure out something with those gloves, ‘cause when you’re wearing those gloves, they almost make your hand want to open. You have to, like, really make a fist,” O’Malley said via Bloody Elbow.
“So if we just have gloves that kind of forces your hand to make a fist, I think that would help a lot.”
O’Malley Said He Was ‘Dominating’ Munhoz & That His Opponent Was ‘Looking for a Way Out’
Sugar isn’t sold that Munhoz was truly injured, saying that opting out with a no-contest was “The Young Punisher’s” “best-case scenario.”
“Someone do a poll on Twitter and see if he was looking for a way out. I really believe that was best-case scenario for Pedro. I was piecing him up, I was way faster than him. He couldn’t hit me, couldn’t hurt me,” O’Malley continued.
“A hundred percent that’s what’s going on in my mind. I’ll have to rewatch it. I was piecing him up, I didn’t get hit once. He came in there and said, ‘I’m gonna kick his legs, try to take him down.’
“He tried kicking my legs, it damaged him more. He couldn’t get me up against the fence, he couldn’t take me down. I was dominating that fight.”
During the post-fight press conference, MMA Fight’s Mike Heck revealed that two of the judges scored the first round for Munhoz, which O’Malley strongly disagreed with.
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Video of Nate Diaz Smacking Journalist at UFC 276 Goes Viral