This Saturday night at UFC Vegas 23, welterweight prospect Sasha Palatnikov makes his highly-anticipated return to the Octagon. A veteran of UAE Warriors who packs a powerful punch, Palatnikov made his debut in the big show last year at UFC 255 when he picked up one of the biggest upset victories of 2020 when he finished Louis Cosce in the third round via TKO. This weekend, he returns to the Octagon when he takes on Impa Kasanagay on the UFC Vegas 23 undercard. It\u2019s an excellent fight between two legitimate welterweight prospects and the winner will likely be in line for a bigger-name their next time out.<\/p>\n
Ahead of his upcoming fight, Palatnikov sat down with the Fanatics Fantasy MMA App<\/a> team. The 32-year-old Hong Kong native and current Vegas resident spoke for over an hour with the team about a wide variety of topics, but one topic that piqued the fighter\u2019s interest, in particular, was when he was asked how he celebrates after his fights. The Vegas resident admitted right away that he doesn\u2019t like drinking.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, I don\u2019t drink. I don\u2019t drink alcohol at all, really. I\u2019ve never been a drinker, even when we were younger. I\u2019ll be honest, I don\u2019t like the taste. I would rather have chocolate milk or a soda. Like that\u2019s just me, personally\u201d Sasha Palatnikov admitted.<\/p>\n Instead, Palatnikov is a proud weed smoker<\/a>. While once a drug outlawed, cannabis nowadays has become much more normalized. Like a number of other MMA fighters, including UFC veteran Elias Theodorou, the Diaz brothers, and most recently, UFC featherweight Kevin Croom<\/a>, Palatnikov is a champion of smoking pot. During the interview, Palatnikov admitted that he enjoys smoking weed and also likes to take other natural drugs while revealing this is the first time he\u2019s spoken so openly about the once-taboo subject.<\/p>\n