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Rowdy UFC fans boo pre-clash tribute to Queen and force company to turn off comments on social media

UFC observed a minute's silence for the Queen ahead of the clash between Nate Diaz and Tony Ferguson, but the crowd wasn't having it

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: As the whole world mourned the death of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96, the organizers of the UFC 279 clash held in Las Vegas on Sunday morning paid tribute to The Queen. But her picture was met with loud boos from around the arena.

Ahead of the UFC 279 main card, a photo of the Queen was posted on the main screen in the arena, with her birth and death dates below, as an announcer read her name to the crowd in attendance.

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Fans were excited ahead of the UFC 279 held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. The event was headlined by the clash between Nate Diaz and Tony Ferguson. The Ultimate Fighting Championship paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch of Great Britain, who passed away last Thursday. A moment of silence was observed in her honor. However, fans in the arena booed it throughout, with some chanting 'USA, USA'.

It’s unclear what invited the Sin city's anger at the late Queen, though UFC games are known for being rowdy and gruesome. The Queen never spoke out about UFC publicly, but was known to enjoy betting on horses and even enjoying testosterone-fueled pursuits such as stalking deer and grouse.

As fans disrespected the moment, former UFC light-heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who was commentating the event, said, "Us Americans are some savages."

Barstool Sports tweeted the video of what happened in UFC at Las Vegas with the caption, "RIP to The Queen UFC fans:BOOOOOOO."

The UFC fans took the incident to Twitter, with one saying, "It's weird that the UFC would even acknowledge it. Was the Queen a big fan of mixed martial arts?" Later, UFC shared a tribute to The Queen on its social media handles but turned off the comment section to avoid a storm of negative responses from the fans.

Someone tweeted, "My greatest regret in life is now not getting the UFC Queen Elizabeth in memoriam being greeted by boos on video." Another wrote, "In memory of queen elizabeth ii' she would've loved ufc 279." Meanwhile, one tweet read, "UFC did NOT just throw up "in Memory of Queen Elizabeth" bruh #UFC279."

Later, UFC shared a tribute to The Queen on its official Twitter account but turned off the comment section to avoid the negative responses from the fans.