One of the major news items in the wild world of Mixed Martial Arts to kick off this week was the fact that Nick Diaz would finally sit before the Nevada State Athletic Commission to settle the punishment for his failed drug test following his headline bout against Anderson Silva this January. The hearing had been pushed back time and time again for one reason or another. When it came time to finally hear what would become of the Stockton bad boy, there was hardly captivated interest among the MMA community because, quite frankly, how harshly were they really going to punish him?
That disinterest quickly turned into stunned awe as one of the most shocking commission decisions in combat sports history was handed down. The commission voted to hand Diaz a career death sentence in the form of a five year suspension.
Let’s put this into perspective, Diaz, a longtime advocate of marijuana use who not only lives and trains in California where its use is legal, has obtained legal medical approval for its use in the past, tests positive for the recreational drug and lands a five year suspension. In the very same bout, his opponent tests positive for steroids, and comes out with one year. Diaz lands five times the length of suspension for a non-performance enhancing drug? Its pretty clear something doesn’t add up.
If we wanted to look into the particulars, its also of note that Diaz was tested three times over the course of only four hours, by three different labs, all with different testing procedures. Allegedly he passed the first and third tests, both completed by World Anti Doping Agency accredited labs, it was the second test that sealed Diaz’s fate, the only test that was not completed to the standards of WADA.
This means that Diaz allegedly did not have marijuana in his system for the first and last tests, but did for the middle one, over the course of a matter of hours. I’m no drug testing expert by any means but this seems to create more than reasonable doubt to support Diaz case, but when brought before the commission it was not even considered. It was clear from the offset that the commission were going to make an example out of Diaz, despite any defence he could provide.
Remember when Jon Jones tested positive for cocaine before his title fight with Daniel Cormier and the UFC was in full support of his recovery? All it took was one day in rehab and he was off the hook. I fully understand its worth noting Diaz is a third time offender, but ending one of the worlds most popular fighter’s career over an inconclusive test result? Its blatantly obvious at this point that the NSAC were looking to send a message with their suspension of Diaz, but all they did was tarnish what reputation they had.
Its unclear at this point whether Diaz could potentially launch an appeal to reduce his punishment, but at least for now it seems we can close the door on one of the wildest careers in the history of the sport, and what a sad way for such a beloved character to go out.
