By Carlos Arias, The Orange County Register –
UFC welterweight contender Nick Diaz is fighting back.
Well, actually it’s his lawyer, Ross Goodman, doing the fighting. Diaz still is awaiting his day in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission to answer charges he tested positive for marijuana after his fight against Carlos Condit at UFC 143 in February.
Goodman criticized the commission about recent comments made about Diaz.
“Not only did Nick Diaz violate the law by testing positive for marijuana metabolites, but he also lied to the commission on his pre-fight questionnaire when he swore that he had not used any prescribed medications in two weeks before the fight,” Jennifer Lopez, the publicist for the Nevada Attorney General, told Yahoo! Sports in March.
Goodman did not take kindly to his client being called a liar and responded with a document filed with the Attorney General’s office on Wednesday regarding Diaz’s alleged falsification of the pre-fight questionnaire.
Goodman stated the “complaint does not allege any facts to support that Diaz violated a rule.”
The document goes on to state that the “after the fact allegations impugning Diaz’s character serve to distract from the core issue that Nevada does not prohibit inactive marijuana metabolites.”
Diaz, who lives in Stockton, legally uses medicinal marijuana in California, but he cuts off his usage eight days before his fights, Goodman said.
The marijuana metabolites that he tested positive for are allegedly left over in fat cells and can show up on tests months after usage.
It should have no bearing on Diaz in his fight or drug-testing results from the commission.
Goodman plans to make the case that marijuana metabolites are not a prohibited substance under the rules adapted by the Nevada State Athletic Commission from the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The other point Goodman is trying to make is that Diaz was not providing “false or misleading information” on the pre-fight questionnaire. Diaz checked no to the question that he had taken prescribed medication in the past 12 days.
Goodman stated Diaz relied on the general understanding of the terms prescribed medications as “over the counter medications” and “serious medical illness.”
Goodman pointed out that medical marijuana is not a prescription drug or an over-the-counter drug and Diaz didn’t believe his attention deficit, hyper activity disorder a “serious illness.”
NOTES
Thiago Silva (13-1), who hasn’t won since 2009, is back after serving a one-year suspension for a failed drug test and he’s facing Alexander Gustafsson (14-2, 1 NC), who is one of the hottest light-heavyweight prospects in the UFC, in the main event of UFC on Fuel TV 2 on Saturday at noon on Fuel TV from Stockholm, Sweden.
Here are the UFC on Fuel TV 2 main card bouts: Brian Stann (11-4) vs. Alessio Sakara (15-8); Paulo Thiago (14-3) vs. Siyar Bahadurzada (20-4-1); Dennis Siver (19-8) vs. Diego Nunes (17-2); DaMarques Johnson (13-9) vs. John Maguire (17-3); and Brad Pickett (20-6) vs. Damacio Page (15-6).
Team Faber’s Mike Chiesa used relentless pressure to win a unanimous decision over Team Cruz’s Jeremy Larsen last week on “The Ultimate Fighter 15,” so former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber retained control of the picks.
Faber selected Joe Proctor to face Team Cruz’s Chris Tickle on Friday at 10 p.m. on FX.
Zach Makovsky (14-2) defends his Bellator bantamweight title against Nova Uniao’s Eduardo Dantas (13-2), the Season 5 bantamweight tournament winner, in the main event of Bellator 65 on Friday at 8 p.m. on MTV2 in Atlantic City, N.J. Bellator 65 also features Season 6 featherweight tournament semifinal between Mike Corey (12-2-1) and Daniel Straus (18-4).
