In a lengthy NAC hearing that spanned over three hours, Nick Diaz was handed a 5 year suspension for a failed drug test. For the 32 year old Stockton native, this suspension could see him out of competition for the rest of his career.
Diaz was also fined 30% of his $500,000 fight purse for the positive test. The positive sample showed that Diaz had well over 300ng/mL of marijuana metabolites in his system after his fight at UFC 183 with Anderson Silva.
The commission’s main reasoning for the lengthy suspension was Diaz’s history of failed drug tests.
Commissioner Pat Lundvall proposed a lifetime ban for Diaz. Lundvall was very upset with Diaz and his lawyer Lucas Middlebrook after Diaz refused to testify. This caused a heated back and forth between Lundvall and Middlebrook.
Middlebrook went into full detail about the three tests that were taken at UFC 183. Two tests that were taken at 7:12pm and 11:55pm by lab SMRTL came back negative. The lone positve test was taken by Quest lab and was taken at 10:38pm.
Middlebrook also went over the problem of the Quest sample containing a form with Nick Diaz’s name on it. He explained that the anonymity of a high profile athlete is important and that the lab should not have know that the sample was that of Diaz’s before testing it.
When Nick Diaz was asked to testify, Diaz simply denied to answer all questions, responding “5th amendment” to each of the 20 or so questions asked.
Nick Diaz and Anderson Silva both failed post fight drug tests after UFC 183. Anderson Silva received a year suspension after testing positive for Drostanolone metabolites and Androsterone. Silva had his hearing a month early on August 13th.
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