by Steven Marrocco on May 21, 2012 at 6:40 pm ET In a hearing that stretched over three hours and two rooms within the Grant Sawyer Office Building in Las Vegas, the Nevada State Athletic Commission unanimously voted today to suspend Nick Diaz for his failed drug test at UFC 143. Diaz's suspension runs 12 months from the date of the event, which took place Feb. 4. Additionally, he has been fined $60,000, or 30 percent of his $200,000 show purse. Diaz, who was present at hearing, must also submit a clean drug test in order to be licensed again in Nevada. NSAC commissioner Bill Brady suggested the term of suspension as keeping with a previous cases in which a boxer tested positive multiple times for marijuana metabolites. Diaz was suspended and fined by the NSAC in 2007 following a fight with Takanori Gomi at PRIDE 33, which took place at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Diaz lawyer Ross Goodman was unsuccessful in arguing those metabolites were technically not a violation of commission statutes on the use of prohibited substances, as he stated in a pair of legal responses to the NSAC's initial complaint against the fighter, which was filed Feb. 8. John Hiatt, a medical expert testifying on Diaz's behalf, said the amount of metabolites found in Diaz's system were consistent with an affidavit from the fighter stating he had ceased marijuana use eight days prior to UFC 143. But Dr. Timothy Trainor, an expert called by the state, said Diaz could have also used the drug as early as 24 hours before the fight, and Hiatt admitted he was surprised that Diaz's level wasn't higher given his frequency of use. Diaz testified to using the drug before training, which was later seized upon by commissioners as evidence of possible performance enhancement. The fighter said he only apologized to the commission following his first suspension because "didn't want to be made an example of" and continued using marijuana immediately afterward. "So the mistake you made is not stopping soon enough?" NSAC chairman Raymond "Skip" Avansino asked the fighter about his most recent suspension. "Perhaps," Diaz answered. Despite receiving a doctor's recommendation allowing the use of medical marijuana as treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Diaz said he didn't think he had a serious medical condition. Commissioners, however, were unconvinced that the fighter was being transparent when he left blank questions about medical conditions and prescription drug use on a pre-fight medical questionnaire for UFC 143. The state produced a similar questionnaire from a January 2011 fight in California in which Diaz noted "THC" as a medication or drug he took within 30 days of the fight. Goodman argued the fighter was answering the questions to the best of his ability and that the diagnosis was the responsibility of the doctor who issued him a recommendation for medical marijuana. NSAC commissioner Pat Lundvall noted that Diaz's recommendation was dated several weeks after UFC 143 and drew an admission from Goodman that the fighter wasn't a valid medical marijuana patient in both California and Nevada, as previously stated. Diaz, meanwhile, said he frequently got marijuana from friends with recommendations and said he'd been using since his early teens. During testimony before the commission, NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer stated that Diaz's post-fight drug test at UFC 137, which took place this past October in Las Vegas, came back negative, though it was ruled to be "diluted" or "abnormal." He also noted that Diaz appeared to evade a post-fight test at UFC 143 and tested several hours late – and only under the threat of not receiving his purse. Goodman countered that Diaz may have been suffering from severe dehydration following the recent fight, but Hiatt could not say for certain how stricken the fighter was. At the start of deliberations on the suspension, Lundvall said there were too many discrepancies to resolve between Diaz's testimony and the evidence before the commission and recommended a yearlong suspension. Her sentiments were quickly echoed by the remaining commissioners, and a vote to suspend and fine Diaz was passed in short order. Diaz is eligible to apply for a license in Nevada on Feb. 4, 2013.
And the punch line is that within a day or two of Nick getting suspended, Chael Sonnen gets approval for TRT. Seriously he did. LOL. Crazy.
This is actually disturbing. Weed would be a performance decreaser, not enhancer, I mean wtf, really. The fact that it's against the law, let police deal with that as they see fit, it shoudln't even be on the list of banned substances. But a year? Really? The same as Plasterito got for loading his gloves with cement, and I think actually a bigger fine? :atu:
I think the idea is that you are punishing a guy for not coming in at his best. Pot is, in theory, a performance decreaser. So I suppose the point is that a commission or sanctioning body has an interest in making sure that a fighter does not do this. We already have similar things in law such as mandatory helmets and seatbelts. That said, it's a fucking disgrace. If you don't like that a fighter smokes pot, then don't hire him to fight for you. If you cry 'if we don't test, how can we know?', the obvious response is that if he isn't good enough as he is, then get rid of him. If he is good enough, so what? And Diaz won so there is that to consider. I expect that Diaz will appeal this result if it is appealable. The Sonnen/Margarito comments are spot on.
I think the NSAC is trying to make fighters accountable for trying to skip out on tests. Overeem got 9 months. Perhaps the NSAC is trying to send a message to fighters thinking of trying to skip out or make excuses afterwards?
Good . Fuck that cry baby Diaz. Condit beat his ass with ease and he's crying about getting robbed and retiring. Go ahead and retire you fucking bitch no one will miss you. They have rules in place for a reason if you don't like them find something else to do with your life. I like Diaz as a fighter but can't stand his bitch ass whiny attitude.
Really? They didn't suspend Overeem when he actually left the country to avoid a test. He didn't get suspended until he got popped with testosterone levels that would kill a horse. The bottom line is that Diaz got 1 year for pot while Overeem got 9 months for testosterone. And Overeem's test avoidance was far greater than Nick's. Personally I'd like to see PED punishment be far worse than marijuana. Just my opinion. As Z said, it's a complete joke.
Really? They didn't suspend Overeem when he actually left the country to avoid a test. He didn't get suspended until he got popped with testosterone levels that would kill a horse. The bottom line is that Diaz got 1 year for pot while Overeem got 9 months for testosterone. And Overeem's test avoidance was far greater than Nick's. Personally I'd like to see PED punishment be far worse than marijuana. Just my opinion. As Z said, it's a complete joke.
diaz is such a poor communicator, which makes him so unlikeable to any officials that have to deal w/ him and actually hear him speak. he probably would've gotten less severe of a punishment had he presented himself in a more professional manner. he might as well stick by his words and retire since he lacks common sense when it comes to professionalism.
