NSAC suspends Nick Diaz’s license

A temporary suspension of Nick Diaz’s fighter license was issued during a Wednesday meeting of the Nevada state athletic commission, stemming from the positive drug sample he produced during the weekend of UFC 143.

The suspension was requested by Nevada deputy attorney general Christopher Eccles, and unanimously approved by the commission until a follow-up disciplinary meeting can be scheduled. At that hearing, Diaz will have the opportunity to present a defense. He was not present at Wednesday’s meeting.

When he does sit before the commission, he will likely have to answer not only for his recent drug screening failure which saw him test positive for marijuana metabolites, but also for a previous failed screening back in February 2007, also for marijuana. At that time, he was suspended for six months and fined 20 percent of his purse.

NSAC executive director Keith Kizer recently told MMA Fighting that no fighter had ever applied for a medial marijuana therapeutic use exemption, but that the commission would take the same steps as normal when considering the request.

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