Diaz fined, suspended after testing positive for marijuana metabolites
Months of legal wrangling in and out of the courtroom culminated in four hours of debate spread between two meetings rooms at the Grant Sawyer State Office Building on Monday – and it all led right back to where it started.
Nick Diaz received a stiff fine and a 12-month suspension after the lengthy proceeding at a Nevada Athletic Commission meeting.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship star tested positive for marijuana metabolites after a loss to Carlos Condit in an interim welterweight title fight on Feb. 4. The fine amounted to $60,000, which was 30 percent of his purse of $200,000.
It was the second offense for Diaz, who got a six-month suspension for a positive marijuana test after a 2007 Pride Fighting Championships bout at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Ross Goodman, an attorney representing Diaz, and deputy attorney general Christopher Eccles argued the case in front of the commission after the two exchanged legal briefs and amended complaints and answers since the test result was announced.
Goodman had tried to get an injunction against the commission last week in district court, claiming the panel had violated its own rules by taking more than the allotted 45 days to settle a summary suspension.
Monday’s argument was more about semantics than procedure, and it lasted well past the allotted time in one meeting room, prompting everyone present to move to another room around 1:30 p.m.
Goodman’s case largely centered on Diaz’s marijuana use being medicinal and recommended by a doctor in California. He also claimed on behalf of Diaz that marijuana is prohibited only “in competition” and no rule exists banning the legal use outside of competition. Diaz said he regularly stops using the drug to treat ADHD about eight days before a fight.
In the end, the penalty fell right in line with other second-time offenders. Diaz likely would have received the same penalty had he never presented a case at all.
The commission ruled Diaz would also be fined 30 percent of the additional $65,000 fight-night bonus he received from the UFC the night of the Condit fight.
No record of such a bonus being paid to Condit could be found by the Review-Journal, however, and NAC executive director Keith Kizer said if Diaz didn’t receive a bonus, that portion of the ruling would obviously not apply.
Diaz and Goodman hurriedly left the meeting after the ruling without talking to reporters.
■ SONNEN CLEARED TO FIGHT – Also at the commission meeting, Chael Sonnen was granted a therapeutic-use exemption for testosterone replacement therapy.
The ruling clears the way for Sonnen’s rematch against middleweight champion Anderson Silva for the title at the MGM Grand Garden on July 7.
Sonnen told the commission he has been self-administering testosterone injections since 2008. He served a suspension in California following the first meeting with Silva in 2010 for elevated levels of testosterone.
Sonnen will be subject to additional testing to ensure his testosterone levels remain within the NAC’s limits. The commission also asked the outspoken fighter to serve in an advisory role as standards are set for dealing with the growing use of TRT treatments.
■ JONES ISSUES STATEMENT – UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones took to his Facebook page on Monday for what amounted to his first public comments since his Saturday morning arrest for driving under the influence, after crashing his 2012 Bentley into a utility pole in New York.
In a post that has since been deleted, Jones apologized to his family, friends and anyone he may have “embarrassed.” He also called some of the backlash “sickening.”
“It has literally been sickening to have so many people try to kick me while I’m down,” he posted. “At the same time, I totally understand I gave them the leeway to. I screwed up, big time.”
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.
