Nick Diaz has been hammered with a five year suspension from the sport by the Nevada State Athletic Commission as a result of testing positive for marijuana metabolites following his UFC 183 fight with Anderson Silva back in January of this year.
The 32 year-old Diaz was also hit with a $165,000 fine in addition to having to pay attorney fees at the NSAC hearing in Las Vegas today.
The punishment was the most severe ever handed down by NSAC to a fighter which seems harsh considering it was just marijuana that Diaz had used, but it’s a history of rule-breaking that appears to have finally caught up with the Stockton ‘bad-boy’.
At the hearing commissioners pointed to the fact that Diaz had already served two previous suspensions for marijuana use in 2006 and 2012, while further aggravating circumstances included the fact that he had failed to turn up for a pre-fight drug test while fighting for Strikeforce in 2009 and then was involved in an in-cage brawl at another event by the same promotion in 2010.
By the time Diaz has served his suspension he’ll be 37 years-old, so it’s possible that the outcome of today’s hearing has all-but ended the career of one of the sports most colorful, but chaotic characters.
However, Diaz’s attorney, Lucas Middlebrook has vowed to appeal the decision, stating that “It was a personal vendetta suspension by the NSAC,” an assessment that many in the sport appear to be agreeing with in the wake of the verdict.
