Nick Diaz Flagged For Potential USADA Violation
Former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz is in some trouble with the UFC and USADA. It was announced late Thursday night that Diaz has been provisionally suspended and is facing a UFC anti-doping policy violation for not properly filling out his whereabouts so he can be tested by USADA.
The UFC released a statement that said Diaz had accumulated three Whereabouts Failures within the last 12 months, which leads to a provisional suspension and potential anti-doping policy violation. The UFC issued the following:
“The UFC organization has been notified that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Nick Diaz of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from Diaz’s alleged accumulation of three Whereabouts Failures within a 12-month period. Diaz, like all other UFC athletes, is enrolled in USADA’s UFC Registered Testing Pool and required to file accurate Whereabouts information in order to be located for out-of-competition, no-notice testing.
USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of Diaz’s case, who has been provisionally suspended pending the final resolution of this matter. Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full and fair legal process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed. Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.”
UFC fighters are required to have a USADA app on their phone, and they must fill out where they are going to be every day for the next three months. This allows doping control officers to come and take their samples for random drug tests. This marks the first time that a fighter is facing an anti-doping policy violation for three Whereabouts Failures in a 12-month period since the UFC partnered with USADA back in 2015.
The policy states for whereabouts, first-time offenders face anywhere from a six-month to a two-year suspension for three Whereabouts Failures in a 12-month period.
Diaz has not been seen in the Octagon since his bout with Anderson Silva in January 2015, which was later overturned to a no-contest after Silva tested positive for banned substances while Diaz failed a drug test in relation to that fight for marijuana and was suspended 18 months by the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC).
