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The latest of Nick Diaz missing a CSAC drug test
By Zach Arnold | August 10, 2009
When we last spoke about this issue, we wrote about Jay Hieron must really be hating life right now. When Hieron’s fight against Paul “Semtex” Daley was canceled after the Affliction 3 card collapsed, Hieron’s camp started talking about wanting a fight with Diaz. Well, buyer beware and be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. Given Diaz’s past history, you know the risks and rewards of taking a fight booking with him involved.
Now, the latest update. Here’s a transcription of what Dave Meltzer had to say on Sunday:
“The commission has um contacted you know Diaz’s people and Strikeforce to find out what time and as of a couple of hours ago, and they made all these you know they contacted everyone yesterday like it was Saturday, maybe Saturday evening or Saturday afternoon, trying to get what time Diaz was come tomorrow because you know because Strikeforce was going to fly him to Los Angeles, who’s going to take the test, they’re going to rush it to the UCLA lab and the deal was is that if the results come in before weigh-ins on Friday and he’s clean, then he can weigh-in and if the results don’t come in, um, by weigh-ins, then he’s off the card. And they haven’t heard back, they may have by now, but they have not back as of a couple of hours ago. But it was, I mean it was 24 hours after everybody had been contacted multiple times trying to get answers where they still had not heard from anyone, so I was wondering if they, you know, my impression is that they’d already thrown in the towel in the sense of saying that whatever reason I don’t want to speculate, but if he doesn’t take the test obviously you know they have thrown in the towel but they should have arranged a time at some point today you would think.”
(Like Josh Barnett, Nick Diaz’s license in California currently is expired. This is becoming the loophole that fighters are discovering if they know they might fail a drug test.) “If he knows he’s going to fail the best thing to do is to no-show the testing and get clean and fight on the next show.”
“Well, hey listen, listen, I don’t have any sympathy for the guy because he went, you know, he went in the LA Times and he bragged that he could beat a test at any time and that he was still doing it and he’s the same guy who went before the Nevada State Athletic Commission on the Gomi fight you know when he didn’t want to be suspended and told them that he would never do it again, it was a mistake and then you know he’s bragging you know that’s like I will grant you that I don’t think that smoking pot is that of a big deal, I really don’t. Now as far as it being illegal to be on pot while you are fighting, I can certainly understand why that is and that’s the rules, but the whole point is that everyone knows what the rules are, you know what I mean? It’s like, if you can want to change the rules you can fight to change the rules and if the rules change, you know, that’s fine. But these are the rules that you go by and what a lot of people don’t seem to realize is that fighting is not a right, fighting is a privilege and being licensed to fight is a privilege, you know, it’s not something that anyone can do because most people shouldn’t be allowed to do it, I mean because it’s dangerous and you know granted he certainly has the skill to do it but you know I mean you know there’s a reason that they have these rules and um I know that you know their claim was that they were told that they would never be tested out of competition. Um, but the law changed. You know like, even if Armando Garcia said that and I just don’t I don’t believe that he did because I just know Armando Garcia was such a hardass, I mean he was more of a hardass about drug testing than anyone, I think, so I don’t believe he said it but let’s just say he did, the fact is is when he did say that they didn’t legally have the right to test off-season anyway. Now they do, the law changed.”
“And that’s right, and Garcia hasn’t been there for months anyways. So what he said you know I mean I sense people like really grasping at straws for excuses and they’re not very good excuses.”
“Oh, yeah, well when the law changed they told everyone. It was not a secret when that law changed. So, you know and you know of all people, I mean to me you know I mean Diaz is already you know missed one fight over it, he’s been suspended once over it, which was a different situation, you would think if anyone would be careful or would have learned something it’d have been Nick Diaz, so if you know I mean I have no sympathy for him at all right now, I mean I have less than no sympathy for him because he no-showed the thing on Friday and you know if he doesn’t you know, I don’t know, I guess we’ll see tomorrow what happens but what can you say? I mean a guy who’s like you know was going to get a chance you know especially it’s a championship match.”
“This is the second time you know, I mean one of the things with him is because he’s so charismatic, you know I mean Elite XC created a title for him except KJ Noons beat him in a match so, um, which is another one, heh heh.”
Keep in mind that Diaz was scheduled for today’s conference call with the media that Strikeforce had scheduled to hype up the Gina Carano vs. Cris Cyborg fight. If you thought the media last week was preoccupied with the bizarre conference call featuring Fedor, dogs, and sirens, then today’s conference call should be some entertainment if Diaz is on it. (Hopefully I can get audio of it because I’m still not on the Showtime/Strikeforce media list for conference call/PR information.)
Someone used our post transcription without a link back to us. You stay classy.
Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 50 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I don’t know this, but I am wondering how much Strikeforce is to blame for this.
You almost NEVER hear about these issues in the UFC. Yes, guys get popped for using roids, but never issues about getting licenses.
It seems like Strikeforce needs to get on it’s fighters about applying for a license more then 2 weeks before a scheduled fight.
As for Diaz, I think it’s pretty obvious he is on something right now and doesn’t want to get caught. And for anybody to say he should get the benefit of the doubt, he has already been busted once for weed, so he loses that benefit….
You know, I really feel like a guy like Diaz who knows what he does and knows how to mask or at least piss an inconclusive test, he really needs to get on the ball here. I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t pull through on this, honestly. He has always been one of my favorites, but is always frustrating with this stuff.
I am not the strikeforce PR list either I touught it would be the easy to join. They kind of need all the pub they can get
Have you emailed them? They have like 5 lists and send duplicate emails all the time.
It’s unfortunate that Diaz and Barnett have both been caught multiple times. They are both so entertaining, and have huge star potential, but if I were in charge of Zuffa I wouldn’t touch either of them.
The last thing that the UFC needs at this point is a drug scandal.
[…] may not be processed in time for the weigh-ins on Friday. Strikeforce has gotten involved and is promising to fly Diaz and his pee wherever they need to go in order to get the fight back on track, and hopefully that will clear up […]
GET ON THE LIST ZACH!
on the Fedor press release strike force listed under contact
Mike Afromowitz
(917) 566-8754
[email protected]
[…] kicker is even if he takes it today, that doesn’t necessarily guarantee he’ll be able to fight. If CSAC has the results in their hands by the weigh-ins on Friday and he passes, he’s good, […]
The Zuffa troll saying Strikeforce is responsible for Diaz’s drug testing problems shows how far these loons will go to try to discredit any competition in mma beside the precious UFC cult.
Diaz is a screw up. Always has been and always will be. Makes you wonder what kind of fighter he would have been without the drugs all his life.
He should give up this part time fighting thing and just stick to smoking dope and making an ass of himself as a profession.
I think it’s a legit question for Strikeforce. From the sounds of Barnett failing… He had a choice when to apply in CA… Affliction should have
required him to have done it over a month before the show.
Same applies to Strikeforce. They need to be Proactive… So if an issue does happen, there is time to remedy the problem. That could mean time to take the test or get a new opponent.
Like I said, this almost never happens in the UFC… It shouldn’t be happening in Strikeforce. Coker needs to get on his fighters to get their license more then 2 weeks before a show.
To not recognize this as Coker also dropping the ball is just a lot of denial…
I think 45’s point isn’t that Strikeforce made Diaz mess up, it’s that Strikeforce should have been more on top of him.
It is irresponsible of Strikeforce not to have made Diaz get his licensing done earlier. Especially knowing his past track record. He’s fought for them what twice already this year. He could have pissed before either of those fights and gotten his license. This is Strikeforce’s home State. You would think they’d be more on the ball.
It’s not easy to keep track of all these guys. But they’ve made an investment in Diaz and utilize him a lot. I would have thought they’d be more on the ball in this case.
I think this is more an issue of all their fighters have just complied in the past and not needed this prodding. When you think about it, if you don’t get licensed and can’t fight you don’t get paid.
Coker as a promoter hasn’t had much experience with these big, national shows with the stars who are used to people just taking care of things for them, the same with Affliction.
Comparing them to UFC at this juncture is ridiculous. UFC has how many years of experience at this and how many people handling this stuff for them? You can critique Strikeforce for not being prepared for this stuff, but the truth is, if they stay in business long enough they’ll get there.
It should be on the fighters and their management.
A little off topic but does anyone know how well this weekend’s fights are selling? I’m going to see the fights and was thinking I’d just buy at the gate. I don’t want to end up holding the bag so… any thoughts from the FO peanut gallery? Buy now and pay a bunch of BS fees or buy at the gate and maybe get better seats for less $$.
Dave,
Coker has been promoting shows in California forever. He’s been doing MMA for years.
I’ve been on the promoter side before. Some states are real hard to work with. California can be a pain with all their paperwork. With one of your top of card guys you need to have this done. Especially Diaz and weed. C’mon, right after the CSAC made an example out of Barnett.
I’ve seen guys flub medicals before to avoid an opponent. In my opinion that’s what Diaz is doing. Hieron is a terrible matchup for him and he’s looking to put the blame on CSAC for the fight not happening.
Spacedog,
I’d print out a seating chart if I were you and get an idea where you want to sit. Then try to take advantage of a scalper in the parking lot.
The best spot to see any MMA event is from the seats that would be center court if it were a basketball game about 8-20 rows up from the floor. You’re dead center on the cage and you won’t be obstructed by cornermen or cameramen.
There’s nothing like the floor from about 10 rows forward if you can afford it. If you can’t, usually upper bowl, dead center, as far forward as possible is best, from my experience. Cage vs. Ring matters too. The ring you can be offcenter and generally be alright. Cage? If you’re looking at it from the wrong angle you’ll have a forest of posts blocking your view.
Coker seems to be saying that Hieron will have an opponent on Saturday night; he just doesn’t know if it will be Diaz or not, btw. Honestly, I’m sure he won’t be too bothered if it ends up being one of the TUF scrubs that Strikefore has regularly used in the past.
If it’s not Diaz I wonder if they’ll do a title fight. I’m guess not since the replacement won’t have been preparing for 5 rounds.
Jesse Taylor is the potential replacement according to Loretta Hunt. They could still potentially put that as a title fight….
This means their Welterweight Division would be: Nick Diaz, Jay Hieron, Phil Baroni, Jesse Taylor, & Joe Riggs.
The biggest test for Strikeforce will be their ability to build up their own talent instead of relying on former UFC talent to fill up the majority of their roster. I question if Strikeforce is capable of building up their own relevent talent.
Loretta Hunt says that Jesse Taylor has been offered as a replacement opponent should Diaz no-show. Much better than the expected Sam Morgan, but still a TUF washout.
And a late notice for Rodrigo Damm didn’t stop Strikeforce from still having him fight Melendez in a 5 round fight. Damm was winded by the start of round 2….
The Caesar Gracie camp now says it is highly unlikely for the fight to happen. That proves to me Diaz is ducking Hieron. He should be relegated to fighting in small shows.
Strikeforce should cut him for this. However, they don’t have enough talent to be able to afford to do so….
RB —
Oh no, I know Coker has been doing this a long time, but it generally involves things on a smaller scale and he has a different level of control over it. While this isn’t the first show of Strikeforce; National Promotion, this is the first show where the whole world is coming down around them and they might realize they aren’t equipped yet to be a national promotion.
When you think about it; Affliction fallout, Fedor negotions, promoting this show, signing new talent, managing new and old talent, dealing with fighters he doesn’t have such an established relationship with, etc.
Strikeforce shows used to run a few months apart, with the cards more or less set up well in advance in arenas they usually run with fighters they already knew or were newer fighters. A dude like Diaz has been around and has an attitude.
As first reported by Loretta Hunt (http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/diaz-hieron-in-jeopardy-19019), Nick Diaz and Cesar Gracie previously had an unofficial “agreement” with former CSAC Executive Director Armando Garcia that Diaz would only be tested for marijuana on the night of his fights.
Garcia resigned in disgrace last year, and the CSAC is no longer making these kinds of back-room “agreements.”
On another note regarding “agreements” between Armando Garcia and Cesar Gracie, I remember when I published the full list of the dozens of mixed martial artists who had tested positive for banned substances in the state of California (this was before the CSAC started publicly disclosing each positive test result as it occurred), one of the names on the list was Cesar Gracie, who tested positive for marijuana. After that article was published, Cesar Gracie publicly said that he had an “agreement” with Armando Garcia that as long as he (Gracie) paid his fine for the positive test, nobody would ever find out about it.
Diaz being unable to fight is not a tremendous shock, but at least they had a backup plan (which seemed to be a general worry amongst fans). As for firing Diaz – if they do, the UFC will probably sign him. I don’t know that it really punishes the guy. He’s gonna be in demand up until he starts losing tons of fights in a row.
“On another note regarding “agreements” between Armando Garcia and Cesar Gracie, I remember when I published the full list of the dozens of mixed martial artists who had tested positive for banned substances in the state of California (this was before the CSAC started publicly disclosing each positive test result as it occurred), one of the names on the list was Cesar Gracie, who tested positive for marijuana. After that article was published, Cesar Gracie publicly said that he had an “agreement” with Armando Garcia that as long as he (Gracie) paid his fine for the positive test, nobody would ever find out about it.”
Ivan, can you link it
Loretta Hunt also breaks the story that Jay Hieron vs. Jesse Taylor has been approved by the CSAC and will be a three-round, non-title bout. http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/diaz-taylor-approved-19038
Sure, the initial story about Diego Sanchez’ positive marijuana test is at http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3653, and the follow-up story on all of the other non-disclosed CSAC drug test failures is at http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3704. Also, I want to stress that while I broke the news on all of the other non-disclosed CSAC drug test failures, it was Carlos Arias of the Orange Countyh Register who broke the news of Diego Sanchez’ positive drug test.
I know this will be an uproarious, unpopular opinion, but the fact that Nick had this shady agreement that would ensure he could toke up only makes me like him more.
Loretta Hunt’s story also says that Hieron-Taylor is going to be one of the four televised bouts of the Strikeforce broadcast, meaning that it’s being televised while Werdum-Kyle is not. That is a pretty bone-headed move in my opinion. If they’re trying to build up their heavyweight division, they should televise Werdum-Kyle and put Hieron-Taylor on the prelims.
Here’s the part that makes no sense. Even if he had this agreement he’d be only be tested on fight night, he knows he will be tested this coming Saturday.
If you are going to get THC out of your system the honest way and you are a habitual smoker it takes about 30 days to pass a piss test. That varies depending on fat content, etc. If you’re not a habitual smoker you can smoke dope and piss clean in a week or so.
Even if he thought he would only be tested on fight night, this is just a week early. Did he time his pot smoking to exactly 30 days from fight time? If so, it should be at such a reduced level that he could flush it from his system.
Detective Roadblock says Diaz is scared. End of case.
I disagree with your assessment in post 31, Ivan.
Jay Hieron is the best fighter on the card. He is a guy they could build around in some very interesting high profile fights.
Werdum/Kyle has snoozefest written all over it. If it is good they can stick it on the broadcast. If not, it won’t kill the show. Additionally, having Mike Kyle on your roster in the first place does nothing to help build up a HW roster. I understand what you’re saying about building up Werdum for Fedor, but the potential of that backfiring is gigantic.
Didn’t Detective Roadblock also say that Fedor Emelianenko was “terrified” of Vitor Belfort?
Cesar Gracie indicates in the initial Loretta Hunt article (which didn’t link the first time for some reason: http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/diaz-hieron-in-jeopardy-19019) that Diaz stops using marijuana exactly 14 days before a drug test, so he must have his methods to clear it out of his system in 14 days instead of 30 days (and those methods obviously didn’t work for the drug test after the Gomi fight).
There are all kinds of advanced methods to clear all kinds of banned substances out of your system before a drug test when you know the exact date of the drug test, which is why drug testing in MMA is more about PR than actually wanting to catch dopers unless it’s out-of-competition drug testing.
“This means their Welterweight Division would be: Nick Diaz, Jay Hieron, Phil Baroni, Jesse Taylor, & Joe Riggs.”
You forgot Andre Galvao, Dennis Hallman, Duane Ludwig, Tyron Woodley and Luke Stewart
Another CSAC-related note: A fighter was allowed to compete on a March 7th MMA event despite the fact that he did not have any HIV test results on file (which is supposed to be mandatory), and despite the fact that he actually had a POSITIVE test for Hepatitis C on file.
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-sp-mma-failed-test8-2009aug08,0,6990641.column
It certainly seems like Fedor’s management did all they could to avoid Belfort.
Interesting point about the 14 days. Thanks for sharing that. I certainly believe that he can do that. He has low body fat and will be doing a thorough flush of his system in the days of cutting weight.
Still he’s 7 days in at this point, I’m sure he could accelerate the flush and piss clean.
I agree 100% about testing being about PR. I’ve been saying that for years.
“Another CSAC-related note: A fighter was allowed to compete on a March 7th MMA event despite the fact that he did not have any HIV test results on file (which is supposed to be mandatory), and despite the fact that he actually had a POSITIVE test for Hepatitis C on file.”
Wow, that’s disturbing
anytime Zach
smoogy,
that’s still 7 out of 10. The UFC could put Marcus Davis in that division to represet the UFC… And he would likely beat all of them…
As for testing being PR thing… It is, but more importantly it is there for legal reasons. Not to protect the fighters as they always say… But to protect the state from a potential lawsuit.
As for Diaz, he shouldn’t be allowed to fight for a minimum of 6 months. It should be treated no differently then a failed test….
Jay Hieron would destroy Marcus Davis, imo.
Anyone who doesn’t enter into a “manly agreement” to stand toe to toe with Marcus David would beat him.
I’m not sure about that. Hieron was T’d probably be one of the best fights fup by GSP and Blackburn. Not sure if he has the chin to handle Davis…
Looking at the bigger picture in all of this….
Showtime has to be shaking their heads right now. They already dealt with the EliteXC fiasco. Then they thought they had an upgrade in SF and Scott Coker. And then this card happens. While a lot of it isn’t Coker’s fault, I don’t think he has helped the situation at all.
1. He didn’t check to make sure Diaz would have a license on time.
2. Diaz basically admits he is smoking weed (medical or not).
3. The last two conference calls have been complete train wrecks. Calling them unprofessional would be putting it nicely.
4. Both Thomson & Overeem are off the card due to injuries. Typically that wouldn’t be a huge problem, except they both already had the injuries when the fights were SIGNED. Expecting them to heal was obviously a bad miscalculation by Coker.
One of these things happening before a card wouldn’t have been a big deal. Combine all of these things together, and Coker is looking like a complete amateur right now in the eyes of the Showtime Executives. It’s one thing to run a successful regional promotion. It’s completely different to run a functioning national organization.
If he is unable to make Fedor a success…. He is going to be swimming upstream until SF’s contract with Showtime expires.
There’s really no conceivable way they can make Fedor a success.
This is a card that is going nowhere. They had a nice idea at first about using Carano/Cyborg to get publicity and introducing their champions to people.
They really have an embarrassing crop of “champs”.
A guy who never did anything at 205 is the HW champ and hasn’t defended in 2 years. Cung Le hasn’t been seen since the Shamrock fight over a year ago. Who is the 155lb champ again? Thompson? What would Gross and Hunt say if UFC champs didn’t defend belts for 2 years?
They’re not going to have Fedor fight for a belt right away? Seriously? Strikeforce is going nowhere fast. How do you have Fedor in your organization and not have him as champ? Without him losing to whomever the champ is.
You forgot to mention their Light Heavyweight Division….
Babalu vs. Mousasi is a very solid fight. But who does the winner fight? There is literally no good challenger to that belt after that fight. The two best are Vlady & Soko. And neither are a real challenge.
Perhaps Little Nog, but something tells me he will be in the UFC next….
Not to mention the winner of Mousasi/Babalu literally not having one credible challenger available.
I could say the card couldn’t get any worse… But then again, I fully expect one of the females not to make weight.
The points about their divisions being weak are totally true. If they were focusing on fewer divisions, it wouldn’t be an issue, but they’re going with everything from 155 up plus a women’s title. But then, that’s why they entered into agreements for talent sharing overseas. If they can acquire guys like Zaromskis or some of the big name lightweights for future cards along with some of the more successful M-1 guys, then that shores them up and creates interesting matches for TV. If they fail on that, then we’ll be stuck with Rodrigo Damm/some loser from TUF 5, and I’m gonna have a hard time giving a shit about that no matter how much they build it within the framework of the promotion. As will, you know, everyone else.
I believe I’ve read Diaz say he can flush himself in 8 days with cleansers and water (also because of the level of physical activity he’s involved in).
Also, read that post on BE and I noticed that too. I can understand linking the interview, but give the HT as well.
[…] kicker is even if he takes it today, that doesn’t necessarily guarantee he’ll be able to fight. If CSAC has the results in their hands by the weigh-ins on Friday and he passes, he’s good, […]