UFC’s Diaz challenges suspension

Nick Diaz never has been one to go down without a fight.

An attorney representing the Ultimate Fighting Championship star filed a motion Wednesday in a Las Vegas courtroom seeking a review of a disciplinary order made against Diaz by the Nevada Athletic Commission after a hearing in May.

Keith Kizer, executive director of the NAC, said he thinks this is the first time a fighter has challenged an NAC disciplinary ruling in a courtroom in his nearly 15 years with the commission.

According to the filing, Diaz is seeking the "first available court date for a review of the (NAC's) decision with the goal of getting back in the cage before the end of 2012."

The welterweight contender was suspended from competition for one year, retroactive to the day of the fight, when a test showed marijuana metabolites in his system after a unanimous decision loss to Carlos Condit on Feb. 4 in the main event of UFC 143 at Mandalay Bay.

At the NAC disciplinary hearing in May, Diaz's attorney, Ross Goodman, argued Diaz had proper documentation to legally use medical marijuana in California to treat symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and the commission's rules expressly prohibited fighters from using the drug only "in competition." Goodman claimed, at the hearing and in Wednesday's filing, that inactive marijuana metabolites don't constitute a "prohibited substance" and the NAC erred in treating them as such.

"The (NAC) prohibits the use of marijuana before or during competition to protect fighters - to prevent them from fighting while impaired," Goodman wrote in an email. "However, Diaz's sample showed no active THC in his system but only inactive metabolites related to his much earlier medical marijuana treatment. Inactive marijuana metabolites are not a prohibited substance under the (NAC's) rules. The (NAC) has no basis in its rules for disciplining a fighter for legal use of medical marijuana outside competition. In doing so, the (NAC) acted unlawfully."

Diaz testified it was his practice to discontinue using marijuana eight days before a fight, and an expert witness testified his metabolite levels were consistent with the claim.

The commission ruled against Diaz and issued him the suspension and a fine of almost $80,000 as a second offender. Diaz also tested positive for marijuana after a 2007 fight.

"At the end of the day, Nick admits that he took a prohibited substance before the fight, which is a clear violation," Kizer said Wednesday. "Failing the drug test is not the violation. Taking the drug is the violation, and he's admitted to that."

Part of the findings against Diaz were that he provided false or misleading statements on a prefight questionnaire in which he answered he was not using any prescription or over-the-counter medications, nor did he have a "serious medical condition."

Goodman contends Diaz answered the questions correctly because he didn't think ADHD fell under the "serious medical condition" definition. The attorney further claims medical marijuana is not an over-the-counter medication, nor is it a prescription, because physicians can only recommend it to a patient.

The attorney general's office, on behalf of the commission, has 30 days to answer the filing.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.