Defending Diaz

I’m sure most will disagree with me, but what the hell…

Here’s a highly unpopular opinion.
I don’t really care if Nick Diaz smoked a joint in the days before he stepped into the cage at UFC 143.
To be honest, I don’t really care if he was doing rails off a hooker’s ass in his hotel room during fight week.
As long as whatever he did in the privacy of his own lifestyle didn’t give him an unfair advantage — or unsafe disadvantage — on fight night, it’s really nobody’s business.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission came back with test results for Diaz’s fight with Carlos Condit that found the 28-year-old had marijuana metabolites in his blood — hardly a performance-enhancing drug.
This is the second time the NSAC has found traces of pot in post-fight testing of Diaz.
The first one was back in 2007 when he defeated Takanori Gomi with a rare gogoplata only to have the victory scratched due to the drug test.
At that time, he received a six month suspension.
This time, he will likely get a year.
Now, I don’t have problems with pre and post fight testing of athletes to catch cheaters.
Those who juice up deserve to be outed and punished.
But it is not the job of sanctioning body pee testers to go looking for things that would have no affect on a fight.
They are not the cops or the lifestyle police.
Same way they don’t care whether or not Diaz was jaywalking across Las Vegas Blvd. or may have robbed a liquor store on his way to Mandalay Bay, they shouldn’t care that he may have smoked pot in the days leading up to the fight.
It takes about 10 days for marijuana to leave the bloodstream, or so the experts tell me.  Someone who smoked a joint over a week before, can hardly be considered high on fight night.
If Diaz was packing bowls in his dressing room, then it’s not a question of blood testing but rather prudent fighter supervision.
If he wasn’t, then chances are he wasn’t high when he walked into the Octagon and there was no increased danger to his safety.
And that is the only thing the NSAC should concern itself with.
The big-picture folk would point to the fact that recreational drug use by fighters gives the sport a black eye.
It sends the wrong message, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Really?
These guys beat each other up for a living. Black eyes are encouraged.
These people aren’t there to be held up as exemplary citizens to the great unwashed masses.
If you want to use pro athletes as role models for your children, then you should give your head a shake.
If that pro athlete is Nick Diaz you may want to opt for a full lobotomy.
jose.rodriguez@sunmedia.ca
twitter:@joser403
blog: www.canoe.ca/scrapyard