Mike Malott just wanted to recreate a prior victory celebration on Canadian soil, but didn't get the chance to hold his Canadian flag high after beating Gilbert Burns.
Just moments after securing a third-round TKO of Burns (22-10 MMA, 15-10 UFC), Canada's Malott (14-2-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) began celebrating with his team. It was his first main event in the UFC, which was made that much more special because it was on his home country's soil, at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.
Malott just wanted to celebrate as he had done when he won at UFC 315 in Montreal by lifting the Canadian flag high above his head. He was denied that chance.
"So, when I was in Montreal, I went to lift the flag, and I don't know if it was a commission guy or who it was, they were like, 'Oh, you're not allowed to have it in the octagon,'" Malott said on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "So I said, 'Can I jump up on the side?' Said, 'Yeah, sure.' So I jumped up, and then I lifted the flag.
"So, (this time) I skipped the first process, and jumped up to go grab the flag, and as I'm pulling it up, he snatched it out of my hand – and he did it all sh*tty too, where he snatched it and like looked at me (angrily). I was like, what the hell, man? No. 1, don't try and be a tough guy to me. I just fought in a cage. What are you doing? And then, No. 2, I don't understand what the rule is that I couldn't have that flag. I walked out with it."
According to fighter manager and owner of Ruby Sports & Entertainment, Daniel Rubenstein, the UFC doesn't want fighters displaying their flags once inside the octagon, but they are allowed during their walkouts.
"They are allowed to walk out with flags, they don't allow them to display the flags in the octagon because it blocks the sponsors logos that paid to be on the canvas and octagon posts," Rubenstein wrote on X.
The moment not only caught Malott off guard, but it also caused a bit of an uproar on social media. Malott said he did not follow up with the UFC about the issue and won't lose any sleep over it, but he was disappointed.
"I spent eight weeks visualizing to re-enact that (moment in Montreal)," Malott said. "I enjoy getting to hoist the flag. I'm proud to be Canadian, and I'm proud to be in a room full of primarily Canadians. Getting to perform in front of everyone and getting to compete out there with the flag metaphorically on my back, I want to physically and literally have the flag on my bag when I'm in there. Not the end of the world, but would have been cool to be able to hoist it."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: 'What the hell, man?' Mike Malott reacts to flag being yanked away