Nick Diaz suspended for 12 months, fined 30% of purse + bonus

A Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting on Chael Sonnen and Nick Diaz streamed here on The Underground at noon ET (9 a.m. PT), courtesy of MMAJunkie.

While government regulatory hearings at the State level are ordinarily not compelling (think CSpan, but boring) this one involved the two most polarizing figures in MMA, Chael Sonnen and Nick Diaz.

Sonnen is requesting a TUE (therapeutic-use exemption for testosterone-replacement therapy) for his UFC 148 rematch against Anderson Silva on July 7, 2012, which was granted.

Diaz, who is currently under suspension for a failed drug test, has been suspended for one year retroactive to his Feb. 4 loss to Carlos Condit at UFC 143, and was fined 30% of both his purse and his OTN bonus.

It is the second time in five years he was banned by the NSAC after marijuana metabolites were found in his system.

Ross Goodman, Diaz’s attorney, argued that neither marijuana nor marijuana metabolites are illegal for medical marijuana patients in the state of Nevada or California, where his client resides and obtained his hemp license to treat his case of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Furthermore, marijuana itself was not found in his system, marijuana metabolites were. Marijuana metabolites are not listed as a banned substance with the World Anti-Doping Agency, whose laws have been adopted by the NSAC.

Goodman also claimed that Diaz checked no on his pre-fight medical questionnaire when asked if he had taken any prescribed or over-the-counter drugs within two weeks of the fight, or if he suffered from any serious medical conditions because the form only had questions about prescription and over-the-counter medication, and neither of those applied in Diaz’s situation.

Moreover, Diaz does not consider his case of ADHD to be a serious medical condition because it doesn’t prevent him from fighting like a broken bone or injury would.

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Live on the UG at noon ET!