Unless you have been living under a rock, you know about Nick Diaz’s five year suspension handed down by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Plenty of UFC fighters have expressed outrage, some even refusing to fight in the state of Nevada. Joe Rogan has also come out in defense of Nick Diaz. Most argue that Anderson Silva, who was popped for PEDs after his fight with Diaz, got a much lighter sentence. Now, I personally don’t think marijuana should even be tested for. Putting marijuana in the same category as PEDs is just absurd. So, in that case I should disagree with the five year ban, right? Well, not entirely.
Marijuana isn’t really the problem here, it is the repeated rule breaking. So let us go back all the way to 2007. Nick Diaz had just defeated Takanori Gomi in one of the most exciting fights ever. He would go on to test positive for marijuana metabolites, and the fight would be turned to a no contest instead of a win for Diaz. Now, go to 2009. Nick was scheduled to fight Jay Hieron for the vacant Strikeforce title. But, the fight was cancelled after Diaz did not attend a pre-fight drug test. Anyone else sensing a pattern here? In 2012, after his fight with Carlos Condit, Diaz again tested positive for marijuana metabolites, and was given a one year suspension. Now, after testing positive for the third time in his career, he is getting a five year suspension.
I get it, you like to smoke weed. But if you want to reap the benefits of fighting, then you have to play by the rules, no matter how stupid they are. Yes, five years is a lot longer than I was expecting, but Diaz and his camp had to expect some sort of punishment. PEDs are way worse than a little weed, but a repeat offender is going to get a heavier sentence than someone with a clean track record. It isn’t right, but it’s the way that things are. In the future, I hope this sort of thing never happens again. But for now, Diaz is going to be sidelined for five years, which will probably spell the end of his career in MMA. Well, there is always Metamoris!
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