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« | Home | »

Keith Kizer’s ready to drop the hammer on Nick Diaz

By Zach Arnold | May 21, 2012

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Original publishing date – Monday, May 14th

Today, Nick Diaz (via his attorney Ross Goodman) lost their injunction hearing in a Las Vegas court room. Keith Kizer of the Nevada State Athletic Commission says that the commission will hold a hearing next Monday to give Diaz his suspension for a second positive drug test in Nevada (marijuana). Kizer is preparing to go for a full year suspension for Diaz.

Compare this sentencing desire to what the Nevada commission gave Alistair Overeem on April 24th when he brought his mark doctor to the hearing to talk about testosterone getting mixed in with a dangerous ‘tetra mix’ shot that Overeem was allegedly injecting himself with. Overeem got a nine month suspension but timed to where he could conceivably fight on UFC’s NYE weekend show.

Yes, there is something horribly wrong about a testosterone user getting less of a punishment than someone getting caught with marijuana. Kizer has hilariously tried to argue that marijuana is ‘theoretically’ a performance-enhancing drug. It’s not — and Kizer should have never gone down this road. However, he is an obstinate man who has no problem with petty vendettas which leads to, in our opinion, public attacks on character of other individuals. Just ask Dr. Margaret Goodman. One thing we’ve learned from all of Zuffa’s lawsuits in Las Vegas and what happened here to Diaz along with Ken Shamrock losing in Nevada court is that Nevada folks protect their own, don’t they?

Here’s a statement from Diaz’s attorney, Ross Goodman, after Monday’s loss in Las Vegas court for an injunction.

*****

Nick Diaz Sets Precedent in District Court

At today’s hearing of Nick Diaz’s motion for a preliminary injunction, District Court Judge Rob Bare clarified that the NSAC, like all other administrative agencies in Nevada, is required to comply with the law.

By failing to hold a final disciplinary hearing within 45 days of suspending Mr. Diaz’s license, the NSAC violated Diaz’s due process rights under NRS 233B. The Judge entirely rejected the NSAC’s claim that it is entitled to suspend fighters indefinitely pending a final hearing.

Judge Bare further held, as Ross C. Goodman argued, that if the NSAC imposes a “temporary suspension” on a fighter, the NSAC is legally required to hold a final disciplinary hearing within 45 days.

If the NSAC had not committed to setting Diaz’s final disciplinary hearing for Monday, May 21, 2012 – which the NSAC only agreed to do the last business day before today’s hearing – then, Judge Bare unequivocally and repeatedly stated, he would have ordered the NSAC to do so within 7 to 10 days.

Likewise, Judge Bare clarified that all fighters are entitled to the protection of the statutory 45 day time limit. The Judge rejected the NSAC’s suggestion that fighters are required attend the temporary suspension hearing in order to qualify for such protection. He rejected the NSAC’s position that Diaz lost the right to dispute the temporary suspension by electing not to attend the February 22, 2012 temporary suspension hearing.

Mr. Diaz is pleased to have obtained a valuable precedent for the benefit of all fighters licensed in Nevada.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 30 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

30 Responses to “Keith Kizer’s ready to drop the hammer on Nick Diaz”

  1. 45 Huddle says:

    Diaz is now a 2 time offender. I don’t care what banned substance there is…. If you get busted a 2nd time for that same substance, a one year ban is perfectly reasonable.

    I find it funny how many people said…. “Diaz didn’t really test positive”….. “Diaz is going to win in court and stick it to the NSAC”…..

    All were complete pipe dreams. This was the only logical way this was all going down. Which is everybody giving the Middle Finger back to Nick Diaz and him doing a full year of time.

    He has spit in the face of authority for far too long for this not to happen.

    “Mr. Diaz is pleased to have obtained a valuable precedent for the benefit of all fighters licensed in Nevada.”

    Actually, he screwed over fighters for the future. The NSAC has given fighters the benefit of the doubt and given them more time in the past. Now they won’t. Now they will just throw the book at them the first chance they get whether they are ready or not.

    This is not a good thing for the fighters. Things will get more strict.

  2. Steve4192 says:

    “Compare this sentencing desire to what the Nevada commission gave Alistair Overeem”

    That’s not really a valid comparison, since Overeem is first time offender and Diaz is a recidivist.

    • edub says:

      Completely understand your point.

      But which is worse; being a first time offender for testosterone usage or failing twice for weed?

      • 45 Huddle says:

        Weed twice. Especially when you laugh at the commissions and tell them you are working the system be cleaning out your system before a fight.

        Anytime you do something wrong a 2nd time, it means you have not learned. And that is far worse then just thinking you can game the system the first time around.

        • edub says:

          I can’t agree there. Boiling it down to the bare facts of one being a recreational drug (that the guy has a doctors “note” for), and the other being a performance enhancing drug you would think that even with somebody failing for weed twice they would at least be on equal footing.

          The other problem I have with Kizer in particular is, it was common knowledge that Nick smoked and didn’t apply for a TUE because of how Keith spoke on the subject numerous times. Then after it all goes down he sheepishly acts like he could have applied for one at any time, and it would have actually been met with some type of merit? That’s bullshit.

          And technically, if you’re cleaning out of your system before the fight, why does it matter?

        • Jason Harris says:

          “And technically, if you’re cleaning out of your system before the fight, why does it matter?”

          So guys can clean their system of anything they want before test time and it’s ok? Overeem tested out of competition, so why does it matter if he’s clean by fight time?

        • edub says:

          Because it’s a PED that you still keep effects from if you train on it. Do you really not understand the difference between drugs of abuse, and ones that enhance your performance while in competition.

  3. EJ says:

    Would love to see nothing more than that happen, for all the crap that I give Kizer this is one of the few situations where he’s right on the money. Diaz needs to be made an example of, this is his second failed test and the guy is just blatant about it. And for once the NSAC has actually handled things in the right way, so if the hammer is dropped on Diaz he has no one to blame but himself and maybe that will finally smarten him up.

  4. Steve says:

    Nothing wrong with a little bit of weed, dude.

    • schmoe says:

      I think Nick Diaz has made the case against weed. The guy can’t speak a sentence longer than four words without losing his train of thought.

      btw – I love the anti-spam word in relation to this thread – JUICED

  5. […] case within 45 days. And while the judge basically decided he wasn’t getting involved, Goodman put out a statement claiming victory: At today’s hearing of Nick Diaz’s motion for a preliminary injunction, District Court Judge Rob […]

  6. 45 Huddle says:

    It will be like an Ant vs. Thor’s Hammer….

  7. david m says:

    I still can’t believe smoking weed is a suspension-worthy offense but fighters can shoot up testosterone sans repercussions. What a world.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      Testosterone that only keeps a fighter at normal levels.

      There are no normal levels of the body that naturally have weed in them.

  8. Weezy02 says:

    What do organizations like WADA pose as a penalty for a second time testing positive for the same recreational drug during competition? My guess is that it is comparable to what Nevada will impose. The policy of my workplace is not much different. I don’t think cannabis should be illegal either but it is. This seems to be a hard concept for people to grasp.

    • Megatherium says:

      According to Jonathan Tweedale, WADA only prohibits marijuana cannabinoid usage in competition. WADA expressly permits cannabinoid usage outside of competition. Traces of inactive marijuana metabolites would be permitted, according to Tweedale, by WADA.

      But as I said once before on another Diaz/pot thread, this isn’t the Olympics, this is the NSAC.

      • Weezy02 says:

        Okay. So they allow allow marijuana metabolites. What about things they wouldn’t permit that are recreational but illegal by their standards in nature? What is the penalty for the second offense? Is it comparable to a year away from competition? I’ve been told that it is but I can’t confirm.

  9. edub says:

    I dunno if you guys are watching, but Nick is straight up killing any case his lawyer was buidling towards. He’s admitted to (among other things), to smoking weed his friends gave him, smoking weed most of his life, and not knowing exactly how long before the fight he smoked.

    He should have just plead the fifth to everything.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      Have to give him points for his pure honesty.

      I wouldn’t be shocked if he got over 12 months at this point….

      • edub says:

        If they wree going to the honesty route he should have just read a prepared statement along these lines:

        “Look, I know MJ is illegal in most states and against NSAC rules, but I NEED it to cope and to function in the world. I did what I could to comply with CA law, and obtained a note from my doctor. I take it as needed to function on a daily basis. And I do the best I can to comply with the commissions of states in which I fight by ceasing my use in the 8-10 days (or whatever) before a fight.

        It doesn’t help me fight, it doesn’t make me bigger, faster, stronger, but it allows me live in the world, which yes, I need to do in order to fight.”

        Then just said I will not be answering any of your questions.

        SInce they didn’t he should have just stuck to his lawyer’s talking points.

  10. Weezy02 says:

    I actually do admire his honesty.

  11. edub says:

    I will say the commission is leaving a million holes open for an appeal now. Kizer talking about a dilluted sample with 0 evidence. Unqualified personnel talking about aspects of medical marijuana. Line of questioning easily described as leading.

  12. Megatherium says:

    The fact that anyone should care that a fighter smokes a joint a week before a fight is farcical.

  13. klown says:

    This is pure discrimination against a person with a medical condition that has no bearing whatsoever on the sport.

    Future generations will look back and scratch their heads about why people in 2012 used to deprive athletes of the ability to earn a living for a year because of marijuana.

    • fd2 says:

      Future generations are going to scratch their heads about why Nick Diaz couldn’t stop smoking pot long enough to make several million dollars.

  14. RST says:

    Gosh that ceasar dude is a scumbag.

    So now he’s trashing Jones for a mistake Jones made on his own time that had nothing to do with the nsac because diaz cant do something as simple as not step into the ring with illegal drugs in his system.

    And dont give me that BS about it being legal in loopyland, its not legal in the cage in nevada under the authority of the nsac and he knew that.

    I’d like to see ceasar say that to Jones face.

    He needs a few more ass kickings like frank shamrock gave him.
    Apparently he still hasn’t learned any respect.

    No wonder nick is all messed up.

  15. nottheface says:

    So Nick Diaz gets a year suspension for using medical marijuana which is permitted under the guidelines you just can have any metabolites in your system (do I detect a catch-22). Fair enough, rules are rules but isn’t it strange that Sonnen gets a TUE when he admits to have been using TRT – without an exemption – since 2008 and who has never reported it on his license applications as required? Also strange that his defense is he was told by Lindland that Kizer said it was ok, something Kizer denied, and that it worked.

    Diaz and Cesar have to be kicking themselves they didn’t beat Condit and have a GSP match set for later this year in Vegas. My guess is the AC wouldn’t have come down so hard on them if that was the case.

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