Nick Diaz suspended 5 yrs, fined $150,000 for failed drug test

Nick Diaz finally stood before the Nevada athletic commission today in relation to his failed UFC 183 drug test. The commission came down hard and laid down a 5 year ban and a $150,000 fine — 33-percent of his $500,000 UFC 183 fight purse.

The extended ban although extremely harsh seems to stem from the fact Diaz has stood in front of the commission for this offence before in 2007 and 2012 and they reiterated that by saying.

“We had an athlete that came before us in 2007 and he promised, ‘I’m not going to do this ever again,”‘ commissioner Pat Lundvall said. “Then we saw him again in 2012, and we know that he failed to show for a drug test then in 2009. We’re now in 2015, and it doesn’t appear that any of these proceedings have had an impact on the athlete, and it doesn’t appear that the athlete is afforded the respect that this commission and the opportunity and the privilege for him to fight in the state then affords.”

Following the hearing Diaz’s attorney Lucas Middlebrook made a point in saying they will fight this suspension and called it a “vendetta suspension,”

Diaz currently 32 would be 37 when the ban is lifted, effectively being able to compete again when he is entering the twilight of his career.