Nate Diaz comments on Sean O’Malley’s win, O’Malley responds

Last night, on the main card of UFC 222, red-hot bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley took his latest steps into the Octagon, this time facing the dangerous Andre Soukhamthath.

Despite having his leg pulverized in the final frame – at which point a Soukhamthath win looked like it was only a kick away – O’Malley ultimately came out on top, as he awarded a decision win for his performance in the first and second rounds. Unfortunately, however, O’Malley’s leg was so damaged that he couldn’t even stand for his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

While many onlookers took this as a display of grit and heart from O’Malley, fan favorite UFC lightweight Nate Diaz did not. Instead, he took it as a reason to question O’Malley’s win.

How u win if u can’t walk out the cage ? Smh

— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) March 4, 2018

“How u win if u can’t walk out the cage? Smh,” Diaz said.

Given Diaz and O’Malley’s shared love of the devil’s lettuce, this comment came as a bit of a surprise to some fans. In many ways, the two fighters seem to be cut from the same cloth.

Diaz’s comment certainly seemed to disappoint to O’Malley, who quickly issued a response.

Nates one of my favorite fighters all time

— Sean O’Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) March 4, 2018

‘Nate’s one of my favorite fighters all time.” O’Malley said in the replies to Diaz’s Tweet.

With his win over Soukhamthath, Sean O’Malley improved to 2-0 in the Octagon, and continued his emergence as one of the UFC’s fastest rising stars. Expect the enigmatic bantamweight to get a real push from the promotion in the year 2018 – with Nate Diaz’s support or otherwise.

What did you think of Sean O’Malley’s win over Andre Soukhamthath at UFC 222? Join the conversation in the comments section.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/4/2018.