last week it emerged that Nick Diaz’s legal team were in negotiations with the Nevada State Athletic Commission regarding the overly harsh five year suspension he received for a failed marijuana drug test earlier this year at UFC 183, and new details about the talks have now emerged.
On the latest episode of the UFC Tonight show on FOX Sports 1 yesterday evening, reporter Ariel Helwani revealed that the two sides are now homing in on a new settlement which would see the five year suspension + $165,000 fine being brought down to a far more reasonable 18 month suspension + $100,000 fine.
Helwani went on to state that while the agreement isn’t official yet, it’s possible it could be announced within the next two weeks.
If so, it would enable the popular, though often controversial, fighter to return to the Octagon as early as July 30th of next year, a few weeks after the historic UFC 200 event goes down in Las Vegas and just a few days before Diaz turns 33 years old.
At this point NSAC will probably be eager to wash their hands of this entire situation after experiencing a major backlash from all quarters after handing Diaz a seemingly vindictive punishment that far outweighed the crime and threatened to end his career.
