After months of rescheduling, Nick Diaz finally faced the Nevada Athletic Commission for his failed post-fight drug test after his January bout with Anderson Silva. Diaz was tested three separate times on the same night of his fight with Silva, passing one pre-fight test and one of his two post-fight tests.
Nick’s attorney, Lucas Middlebrooks, notified the NAC that Diaz would not testify, which seemed to anger the commissioners. Diaz plead the fifth amendment to all the NAC’s questions, which did not seem to help calm any tensions in the room. At the end of the hearing, one commissioner, Pat Lundvall, asked for a lifetime ban as well as maximum fine of 33% of his $500,000 purse. Although the two other commissioners did not agree with the lifetime ban, they eventually handed down a 5 year suspension as well as the maximum fine; Diaz’ legal team is expected to appeal the ruling.
This was the third time in Diaz’ career he has failed a drug test for marijuana, although he is legally allowed to smoke marijuana in his home state of California for medicinal purposes. A five-year ban will keep Diaz on the sidelines until his late 30’s, which could basically be the end of his career.
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