Details on Nevada court denying Nick Diaz's petition for judicial review of NSAC suspension

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Nick Diaz's attempt to clear himself of a year long suspension and nearly $80,000 fine from the Nevada State Athletic Commission has come to an official end, with the December denial of his petition for judicial review being entered into court last week.

Diaz and his lawyer Ross Goodman argued that the NSAC violated his due process, and that their statutes did not disallow marijuana use outside of competition. Given he had tested positive only for the metabolites of marijuana, Diaz and camp believed it should not have constituted a positive test under the NSAC's rules given he was legally allowed to use marijuana in his home state of California.

Unfortunately for Diaz and camp, the court found overwhelmingly in favor of the NSAC, denying his petition for judicial review. In last week's filing, which was emailed to MMATorch by NSAC executive director Keith Kizer, the court laid out their reasoning behind the denial.

The court found that there was "substantial evidence" that Diaz:

-Tested positive for marijuana metabolites

-Used marijuana prior to his Feb. 4 bout, violating NAC statute 467.850(1)(c)

-Because he had been previously disciplined by the NSAC after a 2007 failed test for marijuana, knew that they would discipline athletes for unapproved drug usage

-Admitted it aided in training

-Knew he should have disclosed his marijuana usage

-Knew he should have marked on the pre-fight questionnaire that he used marijuana as a prescription or over the counter drug

Additionally, though Diaz's credibility wasn't at issue in this hearing, the court found the evidence called his credibility into question.

Based on that, they concluded that the NSAC had "broad jurisdiction to interpret and rule on its own Statutes and Regulations." Additionally, the court concluded that the NSAC did not violate Diaz's due process rights, nor did they exceed their authority in disciplining him for marijuana usage or providing false or misleading information.

All of the above led to the denial of his petition, leaving the fine and suspension in place. The suspension expired earlier this month, and Diaz will return to action next month in Montreal in a Welterweight Championship fight against Georges St-Pierre at UFC 158.

[Nick Diaz art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

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Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_15995.shtml

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