Nick Diaz settlement spurred by admission he wrongly pled Fifth Amendment

UFC welterweight Nick Diaz had to admit he wrongly invoked the Fifth Amendment as part of a settlement he recently reached with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Documents the NSAC released show the brash fighter’s act of defiance this past September was a catalyst for the reconsideration of a highly unpopular five-year ban.

“After conferring with new counsel, I determined that I wrongfully invoked Fifth Amendment in response to relevant questions posed by members of the commission and that I should have, and would have, testified to the commission that I did not use marijuana ‘in-competition,’” wrote Diaz in a declaration to the commission, which MMAjunkie obtained.

The documents can be viewed here:

• Nick Diaz motion for reconsideration (.pdf)
• Nick Diaz settlement agreement (.pdf)

On Monday, the NSAC, which regulated the UFC 183 event where Diaz tested positive for marijuana, voted swiftly to cut the fighter’s suspension from five years to 18 months. The commission also cut an accompanying fine from $165,000 to $100,000.

The commission did not disclose the terms of the settlement or discuss Diaz’s (26-9 MMA, 7-6 UFC) case before its new ruling, which came one year after Diaz’s decision loss to Anderson Silva (33-6 MMA, 16-2 UFC) in UFC 183’s headliner. (Silva failed tests due to steroids at the same event and was suspended for one year, and the official result is now a no-contest.)

It was an unceremonious conclusion to perhaps the most controversial ruling in the NSAC’s regulation of MMA, but it didn’t come out of nowhere. After a contentious hearing this past fall on his third marijuana infraction with the commission, Diaz, with the aid of a new attorney, amended his approach to regulators.

When Diaz gave the legal equivalent of the bird to the commission by repeatedly invoking his right against self-incrimination, it added to a litany of evidence against the fighter, who failed the second of three fight-day tests for marijuana. In its written ruling, released Monday, the NSAC notes every single instance that Diaz pled the Fifth and adds, “Based on Diaz’s wrongful assertion of the Fifth Amendment to the Commission’s material questions, the commission inferred that Diaz’s answers would have been adverse to his case.”

In his declaration, Diaz said his previous attorneys advised him on that play. During his hearing, Nick Granath and Lucas Middlebrook, who proved a pugnacious presence during the hearing as he challenged the NSAC’s findings and accused commissioners of railroading his client, represented the fighter.

“At the disciplinary proceeding on September 14, 2015, I relied on the advice of counsel and invoked my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution when questioned by the commission regarding my use of marijuana and, more particularly, whether I used marijuana prior to the January 31, 2015 fight,” Diaz wrote.

Amid public uproar over Diaz’s five-year suspension, a new lawyer stepped into the picture and turned things around. Hunter Campbell, a managing partner at Campbell and Williams, which frequently litigates on behalf of the UFC, filed a motion to the NSAC in January to reconsider the suspension, offering “new evidence not introduced at the disciplinary hearing, which is material, necessary and reasonably calculated to change the decision of the commission.” The new attorney essentially advanced the idea that Diaz should’ve pled the Fifth and instead should have told the commission hadn’t used marijuana “in-competition,” or 12 hours before UFC 183.

Although the commission ultimately ruled against Diaz over that claim, Campbell’s motion produced the desired effect, which led to a settlement with the NSAC. The commission still found that Diaz broke the rules when he failed the second test, did not disclose his use of marijuana on a pre-fight medical questionnaire, and then evaded questions during his hearing. But now, he faces a much shorter punishment.

Diaz is now clear to fight on Aug. 1. Per his settlement, he’s required to undergo additional drug testing if he fights again in Nevada. He must pay for urine tests to prove he’s clean of banned substances 30, 15 and three days before the fight. And if he pops again for marijuana, the NSAC can pursue penalties, which are likely to be harsh.

Diaz also is required to pay his fine by Dec. 1 or his next fight, whichever occurs first, and must apply for a fight license at least 30 days prior to his next bout in Nevada.

As a public user of medical marijuana, Diaz’s urine test requirement is largely window dressing, as the drug is not banned out-of-competition.

The Stockton, Calif., fighter’s manager said he doesn’t have his next fight lined up. He’s just getting over one with the country’s most influential athletic commission.

“It’s been an ongoing process, since almost immediately following the original hearing,” Diaz rep Lloyd Pierson told MMAjunkie. “This is a compromise that we’ve been working on. Campbell and Williams did a great job in getting Nick back to fighting.”

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