Nick Diaz's team plans further legal action after 'kangaroo court' suspension

LAS VEGAS – Nick Diaz’s attorney blasted a five-year suspension handed down by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and said legal action against the regulatory body is forthcoming.

“This isn’t fair – this is a kangaroo court,” attorney Lucas Middlebrook told MMAjunkie following Diaz’s hearing in Las Vegas. “You heard the commission’s decision wasn’t based on the facts; it wasn’t based on the evidence.

“One commissioner said, ‘Your attorneys were very persuasive. But you don’t respect us, so here’s a five-year ban and a ton of money that we’re going to take back.’”

During a hearing today in Las Vegas, the NSAC issued its longest suspension to date of an MMA fighter for Diaz (26-10 MMA, 7-7 UFC), who failed his third post-fight drug test for marijuana stemming from his decision loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 183.

Diaz, 32, also was fined 33 percent of the $500,000 purse he earned and is also responsible for court costs associated with his appeal. He will be eligible to fight again on Feb. 1, 2020.

Middlebrook called Diaz’s punishment “arbitrary and capricious” and said the commission should have instead issued a one-year suspension and a small fine for lying on NSAC pre-fight medical paperwork.

“Actually, they should have dismissed the complaint,” said Diaz attorney Nick Granath. “It was abuse of discretion, through and through.”

Middlebrook attempted to poke holes in the commission’s drug test findings against Diaz, bringing forth an expert who said it was “medically implausible” for the fighter to pass two tests and fail one.

Diaz was tested three times on the night of UFC 183. He passed his first and last tests, analyzed by a WADA-accredited laboratory, and failed his second test, analyzed by a workplace drug testing lab.

The commission, however, based their decision on Diaz’s answer of “no” on a questionnaire that asked whether he’d used any drugs two weeks prior to UFC 183, as well as his two previous failed tests at UFC 143 and PRIDE 33. They justified a five-year ban by arguing his behavior constituted “disrespect” toward the commission.

Middlebrook and Granath said the fighter’s next step is to apply for a judicial review from a higher court, similar to the action taken by veteran Wanderlei Silva in the wake of a lifetime ban, which is now before the Nevada Supreme Court.

“We’re confident that they’ll see the errors of the commission’s ways,” Middlebrook said. “You really have a bigger problem here. There are no standard protocols that these athletes are tested for drugs, which every athlete that’s subject to the commission should be extremely worried about that, because you’re going to get inconsistent results.

“Any drug testing program in this country has standards of protocol. Go online and try to find the commission’s protocol’s. There are none. And when they do use a WADA-accredited lab, they don’t want to rely on that. So it’s very scary that there’s no review process for these athletes, that there’s no consistent protocol, and that they can be fined and lose their livelihood without any due process of law.”