Nick Diaz Is Eligible To Return To UFC On 4/20, Like It’s Meant To Be

Nick Diaz is officially eligible to return to the UFC after retroactively serving a one-year suspension from USADA for missing three out of competition drug tests. This comes after fighting only twice in the last five years due to general disinterest, but mostly because of failed drug tests in which he popped for marijuana metabolites.

The date of his renewed eligibility? 4/20. It’s like it was meant to be.

But in order to appreciate his comeback, we need to explain the weird weed history of Nate Diaz’s older brother.

Diaz’s winding road goes all the way back to 2012* when he tested for marijuana metabolites following his interim welterweight title fight with Carlos Condit. He was suspended for one year and fined 30 percent of his purse, then returned in 2013 to fight Georges St-Pierre. After that fight, he retired from the sport, but came back in January of 2015 to fight Anderson Silva. He lost the fight, but the decision was overturned into a no-contest after Silva tested positive for a banned substance, and Diaz again popped for marijuana metabolites.

After that failed test, the Nevada State Athletic Commission initially banned Diaz from the sport for five years. His appeal was relatively successful, and he was instead banned for 18 months. Since being briefly reinstated in 2017, Diaz has missed his scheduled drug tests, which led to the additional year suspension, and now we’re here. Nick Diaz is once again eligible, and this time USADA and athletic commissions have used the years between his tests to somewhat catch up to reality.

At the time, Diaz’s failed tests were for microscopic amounts of marijuana. He was not under the influence at the time, and the suspensions were gross overreactions. Diaz is a vegan and a proponent of medical marijuana on multiple levels, as he’s explained over the years:

“I do think it’s a performance-enhancing drug, but I mean like, so are vitamins. People get really misconstrued on that whole thing. I’d like to start shedding some light on this stigma that people that smoke weed are lazy or that they’re not thinkers or something. It’s really limiting to die without ever smoking weed or indulging in some way because my grandfather died and I don’t think he ever. And, I feel some type of way about that. I hate to see my grandmother go out the same way but I don’t know if I ever see talking any sense into these old people. They don’t understand it.

In honor of this announcement, let’s take a journey through the prolific weed-smoking of Nick Diaz. We’ll start with one of his most fascinating tales: the time he stopped his bike ride with Nate to smoke and talk about the time he was stabbed by some dudes with a pen.

There are many, many, many other examples of Nick’s love of weed, but right now, it’s best to get excited about the possibility of another fight for the elder Diaz. Maybe against Michael Bisping at 185 pounds? That would be the type of money fight Diaz would probably need for motivation to get back into the Octagon.

Oh, and here’s a video of Nick and Nate smoking a $2000 blunt shaped like a UFC glove.

*Diaz also tested positive for marijuana after his 2007 win over Takanori Gomi in PRIDE.

(Via ESPN/Flo Combat)