Ahead of his UFC return this weekend, Nate Diaz showed he hasn't changed in his three years away from the Octagon, choosing to spend the open workout smoking a huge joint of CBD or cannabidiol.Diaz passed the cannabis extract around fans in attendance, who were there to see the fighter ahead of his UFC 241 bout with Anthony 'Showtime' Pettis."I said pass it around. It’s good etiquette, for sure."Along with his brother, Diaz has his own line of CBD with Game Up Nutrition, and both believe in the reported benefits the supplement has for UFC fighters.As well as working as a painkiller, CBD also combats inflammation and swelling, a common appearance in UFC bouts. With this in mind, it's no wonder it has become so popular in MMA and used by stars like Diaz.

Diaz will hope to reap its benefits when he returns for the first time since losing to Conor McGregor in their rematch back in August 2016, however, Diaz denies his hiatus was down to the Irishman.

"I was not waiting for him for a second," Diaz told ESPN

"I sneeze louder than everyone hears about it. But it’s like, ‘Hold up you guys want me to sit out and vanish?’ that’s what everyone wants.

"You’re going to offer me prelim fighters and be like, “He turned this down”, and it’s like you guys are using that against me now."

Despite Diaz claiming he was never offered any serious fights until now, UFC president Dana White is happy to have the Stockton fighter back, believing his co-main event with Pettis is as big as Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic's main event fight.

"The one thing that the Diaz brothers, the last three years he hasn’t fought, all the things that have been said and happened, the Diaz brothers show up to fight.

"This is a great fight between two great fighters that has been talked about as much as the main event itself.

"You aren’t going to make Nate Diaz do anything, he’s going to do what he wants on his own time. He called and said he wanted a fight so we booked him."