With the UFC’s big New York debut at Madison Square Garden still lacking star power and a headline fight, one name you’d think we’d be hearing more about as a possibility is Nick Diaz. Diaz is just coming off an 18 month marijuana suspension in Nevada … plus his brother was just involved in the two largest UFC pay-per-views in company history.
But it turns out the Nevada State Athletic Commission isn’t done with Nick yet. While he’s served the time, he hasn’t paid for his crime. As it stands, he still owes the commission $75,000 … money that needs to be paid if Nick intends to fight again.
Bob Bennett from the Nevada Commission tells me to the best of his knowledge, Nick Diaz still hasn't paid his fine so he's still suspended.
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) September 13, 2016
In other words any potential fights for Diaz would require him to handle that fine first before he could get licensed
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) September 13, 2016
The crappy thing about all this is there’s a lot of evidence that Nick’s failed drug test was bogus. Multiple USADA tests on the night of his fight with Anderson Silva came up negative. But a single urine test from Quest Labs showed insanely high levels of cannabinoids. The NSAC ignored the other negative tests and never tested Nick’s B sample. They also tried to effectively end Nick’s career over the whole thing, giving him a 5 year suspension the fighter had to go to court to contest.
So you may understand why Nick is in no rush to fork over $75,000 to these jerks. But if he ever wants to fight again, they’re gonna end up getting that money from him. Maybe the UFC can agree to pay it as part of his next bout contract? The only positive here is that Nick’s suspension is always just a payment away from being over. But the Diaz brothers are stubborn, stubborn people, which means it could be a while yet before we get to see Nick in the cage again.