On Tuesday, the Nevada Athletic Commission held a meeting to discuss, among other things, the recent failed drug tests of Nick Diaz and Anderson Silva, the headliners of UFC 183. The entire event was streamed on UFC’s Fight Pass, and here are some of the highlights.
Boxer Layla McCarter, having turned 35 years old, must go before the full commission before being licensed to fight again. Commissioner Bill Brady says Layla is a wonderful person and an example of what all fighters should be like and instantly pushes for a motion to grant her the license. So remember, if you are friends with someone on the commission, they will basically do anything you want.
Next up is Lorenzo Trejo, who is also older than 35. On the grounds that he’s had 17 knockout losses, Brady denies Lorenzo the license. Brady says “From my understanding, a knockout is a concussion” with the least amount of certainty I’ve heard in a statement of fact.
Diana Prazak, also over 35, is applying for a boxing license. Brady has questions about her record, but that’s only because he misreads her last three fights, all victories for Diana, as knockout losses. Once that’s cleared up, the commission grants Diana her license to compete.
An unexpectedly fantastic moment comes at item 32 of the NSAC’s new business. BKB, a boxing promotion, is looking to get a waiver that would allow a sensor in boxing gloves. The sensor would measure force and impact of punches, allowing BKB to provide viewers with information on how hard the fighters are throwing. The commission’s biggest problem seems to be the potential to either influence the judges scoring a fight, or to use the data to sway a viewer’s opinion on what the outcome should be instead of what the judges determine it is. Apparently information isn’t good if it shows that boxing and mixed martial arts judges are incompetent. After chairman Francisco Aguilar is unsuccessful in cracking the chip’s case open, BKB is allowed a one fight exemption to use their technology and provide data to the NSAC.
There’s another issue as the Mohegan tribal council is offering a tablet-based scoring system that would eliminate judges having to use paper and pencil to tally scores at the end of each round. That doesn’t sound like a problem, but there have been issues with a judge being unable to do simple arithmetic and coming up with an impossible score. After determining that North Koreans or black hat hackers named Hathaway can’t access the tablets, the NSAC rules to allow the system on a trial basis.
We’re finally at a meaty topic: the decision to form an expert panel that will discuss drug testing policies and procedures. Chairman Aguilar chimes in to say that a potential issue with an expert panel is “experts like to talk a lot” and sometimes go behind the scope of the issues the commission is trying to address. Aguilar also wants to know if the suspension penalties need to be revamped, possibly putting first time offenders away for one year instead of six months. Nothing actually happens, but the NSAC does have a plan to meet for a grueling second time in March for this expert panel.
Before the actual relevant stuff happened, I just want to point out that the NSAC was having a rough time with the phone system. The problems with having an open line is that any jerk can call in and be a chucklehead.
Per the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Nick Diaz, Anderson Silva, and Hector Lombard have all been temporarily suspended pending a full disciplinary hearing at the commissions’s next meeting. Diaz, of course, has now tested positive for marijuana metabolites after three fights in Nevada, while Hector Lombard failed a test for methyltestosterone. Silva, meanwhile, has two positive tests, both associated with UFC 183. There was the initial pre-fight test on January 9th, where he popped for two steroids, drostanolone and androstane. Silva passed his January 19th test, but now the results of his post-fight test has come back positive for drostanolone in addition to Oxazepam, an anti-anxiety med and a sleep deprivation medication called Temazepam.
Ashlee Evans-Smith, who made no appearance and did not have a representative at the hearing, was essentially found guilty of violating the drug policy, was suspended for 9 months and fined 30% of her $8,000 fight purse.
A boxer, Lanell Bellows, had gotten his license suspended for failure to pay child support. He owed over $7,000, and isn’t allowed to fight until that’s cleared up. Except boxing is his sole method of generating income, which puts Mr. Bellows in quite a pickle. Luckily for him, the generous people at Mayweather Promotions are footing Bellows’ bill. Isn’t everyone associated with Floyd Mayweather just a swell guy?
Whenever the NSAC convenes in March to actually go over the cases for guys like Nick Diaz, Hector Lombard, and Anderson Silva and not just play with iPads for three hours, I’ll cover that to see if anyone on the commission tries to become best friends with the fighters.
