NSAC hands Nick Diaz incomprehensible 5-year ban
Anderson Silva used steroids before fighting Nick Diaz, who smoked weed. Nevertheless, Diaz was banned from fighting for 51 more months than Silva.
Published on Tuesday, 9/15/15, at 10:54 a.m. Eastern
When Anderson Silva won a unanimous decision over Nick Diaz this past January at UFC 183, both fighters made news with their urine tests that became public weeks after the bout.
Silva stunningly tested positive for multiple anabolic steroids on two separate tests. Diaz, to the surprise of nobody because he’s prescribed medical marijuana in his home state of California, tested positive for weed.
Obviously, Silva’s dirty test for PEDs is a much more serious matter. UFC welterweight contender Matt Brown recently implied that fighters who take steroids before fights are basically bringing a murder weapon into the Octagon. As for Diaz’s situation, you won’t find one fighter on this planet who would mind if an opponent used weed while training for a fight or the day of the match.
When Silva faced the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the multi-millionaire brought a complete clown for a lawyer to the hearing. He also created a beyond-odd story about how the dirty test must’ve been caused by a substance he took that he believed was strictly a sexual-enhancing product. In other words, he created an outrageous story and lied to the NSAC.
The result? Silva was suspended for nine months.
Diaz, who has a bank account that is probably worth about five percent of what Silva has to his name, brought an extremely credible lawyer to yesterday’s hearing. In fact, the lawyer presented a case that would’ve had any real jury doubting Diaz’s guilt.
Diaz took his lawyer’s advice and wouldn’t answer questions from the NSAC, instead allowing his paid representation to do the talking for him. So what did the NSAC decide to do to Diaz? Well, of course, they banned him for five years. In essence, they issued the 32-year-old Diaz a lifetime ban and basically took away his right to earn an income in the future.
This is absolutely incomprehensible. And ruthless! It makes zero sense whatsoever. Diaz was also fined $165,000, 33 percent of his $500,000 purse for the Diaz fight. Making matters worse, he can’t corner his brother Nate Diaz in his upcoming fight against Michael Johnson in December.
Let’s hope that this decision won’t stand on appeal. Whatever anyone thinks of Diaz — and, to be sure, he is misunderstood and disliked by many — any reasonable individual understands that this is an unfathomable injustice considering the “crime.”
For more details, check out a few of these links…
—Yahoo’s Kevin Iole hammers the NSAC – and deservedly so!
—ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto says the NSAC’s message is a troubling one.
—MMA Mania has quotes from Diaz about his upbringing and more.
—An open letter to the NSAC from Conor Ruebusch over at Bloody Elbow.
—Middleweight contender Josh Sammaan had this take.
