Nick Diaz’ ruling by the NSAC was justified

Where Nick Diaz goes controversy will follow – In the past year alone he has burned millions of dollars missing a super-fight with welterweight kingpin George St-Pierre for his out of cage shenanigans, no-showed a jiu-jitsu match and tested positive for marijuana usage.

Today the former Strikeforce 170-pound king went before the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) with his attorney Ross Goodman arguing that there was no indication that the Stockton, California native was impaired when he faced top-ranked Greg Jackson trained product Carlos Condit.

The board unanimously voted to uphold his 12 month suspension that dates back to February 4^th when he fought in Las Vegas as well as stripping him of 30% of his purse which calculates to $60,000.

Within moments of the ruling coming down this story spread like wildfire as keyboard warriors and media aficionado’s expressed their outcry about the situation and stripping a fighter of their license for marijuana usage.

Nick’s trainer and mentor was quick to chime in with the below tweet:

Because it’s fresh in our minds, naturally this is being compared to Alistair Overeem – The former Strikeforce and K-1 champ went before the NSAC last month after he was popped with a 14-to-1 testosterone to epitestosterone level during a random drug test before he was slated to battle Brazilian bomber Junior dos Santos for the UFC heavyweight crown this weekend.

When the dog and pony show that day concluded the board ruled that he would have to take a 9 month suspension dating back to when he was tested leaving him free to fight on the annual year-end super-card if the organization wish to book him.

The asinine argument that both cases is one fighter used marijuana in his spare time while the other used an anabolic steroid and the weed smoker got the harsher penalty is ridiculous, it’s unfair and unjust to compare the two.

Overeem has had a cloud of suspicion for years since he transformed overnight from a 210-pound twenty-something fighter who carried a hammer into a large heavyweight with a herculean frame but this is the first time he has been popped for breaking the rules, we can’t say the same for Stockton’s notorious bad-boy.

When Diaz left the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2007 he made the move to Japan-based rival organization Pride Fighting Championships who were testing the waters in Nevada as the ship was sinking with the loss of their major television platform in the land of the rising sun.

Diaz overcome an early surge from Pride lightweight kingpin and pound-for-pound star Takanori Gomi before finishing his Japanese foe with a gogoplata but before we could celebrate his new found stardom he was fined 20% of his purse and wasn’t able to compete for 6 months.

Whether you agree with the rule of marijuana being on the banned list is irrelevant, Diaz ignored the rules and is justifiably being punished. This seems to become an ongoing problem with not only MMA fighters, but athletes all around. Addiction affects all aspects of your life and going to a well known treatment center such as Narconon rehab will help stop substance abuse.