NSAC suspends Nick Diaz five years, issues $165k fine

http://mmajunkie.com/2015/09/nsac-suspends-nick-diaz-five-years-165k-fine

watch the video - i dont know how to post videos here

http://bcove.me/o8qx81i1

LAS VEGAS – After a long and often contentious hearing, the Nevada State Athletic Commission today handed down its harshest punishment on a fighter to date, voting unanimously to suspend Nick Diaz for five years after a positive marijuana test in connection with his decision loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 183.

Diaz (26-10 MMA, 7-7 UFC), 32, was also fined 33 percent of the $500,000 “show” purse he received for his Jan. 31 headliner at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena, which amounted to $165,000, and attorney’s fees and costs in connection with his hearing. It was his third suspension for marijuana.

Commissioners Pat Lundvall and Francisco Aguilar pointed to Diaz’s two previous NSAC suspensions for marijuana, his no-show for a pre-fight test in California, and a 2010 brawl in the now-defunct Strikeforce as aggravating circumstances and supported a lifetime ban. After commissioners Anthony Marnell and Raymond “Skip” Avansino expressed reservation with a lifetime ban, the commissioners agreed to a five-year term.

Diaz appeared at the hearing in person and repeatedly invoked the fifth amendment to avoid self-incrimination, prompting vocal protest from his attorney, Lucas Middlebrook, who accused the NSAC of violating the fighter’s due process and indicating future legal action against the commission.

Middlebrook attempted to discredit the commission’s findings on Diaz’s test results, pointing to a trio of tests performed on the fighter on the night of his fight.

Diaz, as previously reported, passed the first and last of the three tests, which were analyzed by the WADA-accredited Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory. He failed the second test, which was analyzed by Quest Diagnostics.

Middlebrook called a drug testing expert who said it was “medically implausible” that Diaz could register the levels of marijuana measured by the three different labs.

But the commission’s legal rep, Nevada Deputy Attorney General Eccles, argued the conflicting results didn’t invalidate each other and said an amended answer to the state’s complaint didn’t dispute the fighter was dishonest on his pre-fight medical paperwork, which asked whether he had used any drugs in the past two weeks.

Diaz was suspended in 2012 when he tested positive for marijuana following a decision loss to Carlos Condit at UFC 143 and in 2006 following a submission win over Takanori Gomi at PRIDE 33.

i feel bad for diaz. as much of a "insert word here" he is he does bring up great points. i hope his legal team could do something to overturn this.

for silva to get a 1 year ban for steroids and for diaz to get a 5 year ban for marijuana is absolutely insane.

man it was weird to watch diaz almost break down into tears

So they didn't want to give him a lifetime ban, but settled on 5 years?
That's essentially the rest of his fighting career, so what's the difference???

5 year ban is absolutely insane imo

5 year ban is beyond ridiculous. what a crock of sheet!!!!

Quote :

Diaz appeared at the hearing in person and repeatedly invoked the fifth amendment to avoid self-incrimination, prompting vocal protest from his attorney, Lucas Middlebrook, who accused the NSAC of violating the fighter’s due process and indicating future legal action against the commission.

I don't understand this part. So Diaz invoked the fifth repeatedly to avoid self-incrimination, and HIS lawyer got pissed about it???


What am I missing here?

http://bcove.me/txzhrxlp


watch the video of them in court.. diaz lawyer is pretty aggressive id say.

Yeah I got that, but it's just worded kind of weird.
The statement above seems to imply that Diaz invoking the 5th angered his lawyer, which obviously isn't the case.
His lawyer was pissed that Diaz was forced to repeatedly invoke the 5th, not pissed at Diaz for doing it.

This is the worst thing i have heard of in mma. All other decisions and acts in the sport that could be considered wrong or shady fall within some kind of margin of error where one can give the the part at fault benefit of the doubt. This is miles beyond that. Absolutely, plainly, just vendetta.
But i predict that this is not going to go away like other recent misdeeds, such as ufc firing "stitch". This is going to be huge and Diaz will be the "people's crusader". UFC better straighten their shit out or they will start losing fans.

Yeah, if you look at all the twitter posts from fans and fellow fighters alike you will see a massive outpouring of support for Diaz/chastising of the NSAC.
There's even a #FreeNickDiaz movement going on!

The commission went too far this time, and this isn't goingaway anytime soon.

Triggerman99 wrote:

Yeah I got that, but it's just worded kind of weird.
The statement above seems to imply that Diaz invoking the 5th angered his lawyer, which obviously isn't the case.
His lawyer was pissed that Diaz was forced to repeatedly invoke the 5th, not pissed at Diaz for doing it.

Correct.

It was a complete joke. They asked for a blanket pleading of the 5th amendment as is his right and the twat on the commission just replied back "well I guess we will just let the court system decide who's interpretation of the constitution is correct"

Yeah it was a pretty childish display.
I hope this ends with those assholes getting their figurative asses spanked by a judge.

Triggerman99 wrote:

Yeah it was a pretty childish display.
I hope this ends with those assholes getting their figurative asses spanked by a judge.

This.

St00pid decision, give him a year... he's done anyways.

Who really cares?

Didn't Nick retire?

Could he ever even beat anyone of substance anymore?

He kept poking the NSAC with sticks, what did he expect to happen?

This isn't really even about Diaz anymore.
It's about the commission blatantly abusing their authority, being wildly inconsistent, and violating their own rules.

They need to be taken down a peg, and this is the perfect platform for that to happen.

So jon Jones gets 18 months probation and no suspension for hitting a pregnant woman in a car that police found drugs in and fleeing the scene.  This after testing positive for cocaine and also after crashing a car with women in it while under the influence.

But Diaz gets a 5 year suspension for weed. Got it.

5 *year*

And yeah, before anyone says "well that's two separate cases and the NSAC has no jurisdiction over the Jones situation because it wasn't fight related and blah blah yadda yadda yadda"
Yeah, we know that. But it's a pretty good barometer for how utterly fucked and upside down the punishment system in MMA as a whole is right now, especially considering it was supposed to be more regulated and uniform since their new rules and punishment tiers were put in place.