Podcast host Theo Von recently brought up the subject of Nick Diaz’s infamous weed suspension during a recent episode of This Past Weekend podcast with MMA star Nate Diaz. During the conversation, Nate did not hold back on how he felt about the situation, calling it flat-out ridiculous.
Nick Diaz received a five-year suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission following a failed d**g test for m**ijuana after his 2015 bout with Anderson Silva.
The punishment was widely criticized across the combat sports world as being grossly disproportionate, and it effectively removed one of the most recognizable names in MMA from competition during what should have been prime years of his career.
Sitting across from Theo, Nate summed it up: “Nick got in trouble for weed. He got suspended for five years or some s**t like that when he was already older and it was like ridiculous.”
Theo then asked whether Nate had ever tried to use his own influence or leverage with the UFC to help get Nick reinstated, to which Nate was straightforward about the limits of what he could actually do.
“I never even thought about it,” he said. “It was like, you know, like when the cops take you to jail and I don’t want you to go to jail. I’m like, I know I can’t get you out.”
He went on to clarify that this was never a UFC issue to begin with. “It wasn’t UFC at all. I think it was a commission, right?” Nate said.
When Theo confirmed that was his understanding, Nate acknowledged that even with his profile and name recognition in the sport, going up against an athletic commission was not something he believed would have moved the needle.
“Even with how I am right now, I don’t think I could help that, you know? I’m not going to go head to the commission. They’re going to do me or him any good.”
The conversation touched on how the timing of the suspension made it particularly damaging. Nick was already in his thirties at the time and had spent years building one of the most loyal fan bases in the sport. A five-year absence at that stage of a combat career is not something you simply recover from.
Despite everything, Nate confirmed that Nick remains part of his training camp ahead of the May 16th Netflix card, where Nate faces Mike Perry.
“He’ll pop in and game me up about everything I suck at,” Nate said. “That’s what he does. So that’s what I need him for, too.”
