Nick Diaz receives 'lifetime ban' from UFC after third failed drug test

American mixed martial artist Nick Diaz has been given a “lifetime ban” from the UFC after a third failed drug test. Diaz made a third positive test for marijuana, prompting Nevada State Athletic Commission to suspend the welterweight fighter for five years, a timespan that is almost certain to end his MMA career in the Octagon.

Diaz tested positive for marijuana metabolites following his fight with Anderson Silva at UFC 183 on Jan. 31, despite passing two other drug tests on fight night. NSAC discussed on Tuesday not to administer a lifetime suspension for Diaz. But NSAC commissioner Skip Avansino recognised that a five-year ban would essentially be the same as a lifetime ban for the 32-year-old fighter.

Diaz’s two other samples on fight night passed drug tests, which was analysed by the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory, an organisation acknowledged and accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. However, the third failed test was examined by Quest Diagnostics, provoking Diaz’s team to consider the results as “scientifically unreliable” given that SMRTL’s results were extracted using WADA’s higher standard of drug testing protocols.

However, NSAC stood by Quest’s testing techniques despite Diaz being a medical-marijuana user. NSAC chairman Francisco Aguilar said that Diaz’s case is an issue of marijuana, insisting that the organisation has a positive test through a method they have been using over time.

“This is an issue of marijuana, a lack of being forthright, a lack of cooperation to make the sport better, a disregard for rules. It hurts other athletes just as much,” Aguilar said, the Independent reported. “We have to do our job as regulators.”

Diaz, who was also fined $165,000 (AU$231,762), was present before NSAC, pleading the Fifth Amendment to questions directed at him. Diaz slammed the commission after the hearing, branding them a “bunch of dorks.”

"Bottom line is ... these guys are legally trying to rob me, robbing other fighters,” Diaz told Fox Sports. "That's crazy because I didn't test positive.”

Diaz’s lawyer Lucas Middlebrook confirmed that they plan to appeal NSAC’s ruling, and will submit a petition for judicial review, which has to be filed within 30 days. Middlebrook also added that NSAC made a “completely arbitrary and capricious decision,” claiming that the ruling was not based on facts or evidences.

Diaz has been suspended twice in the past for failed drug tests. He was suspended by the NSAC for six months for testing positive for Tetrahydrocannabinol in 2007, and was banned for a year for testing positive for marijuana metabolites in 2012. Diaz’s fight against Silva at UFC 183 has already been ruled a no contest after the Brazilian fighter tested positive for anabolic steroids, earning him a one-year ban and a fine of $380,000 (AU$534,417).

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