Nick Diaz camp confirms UFC 158 negative test, seeks more commission info

The Régie des alcools des courses et des jeux (Quebec athletic commission) recently informed Nick Diaz’s camp that he passed his UFC 158 drug test, Diaz lawyer Jonathan Tweedale today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

Now, Tweedale seeks more information from the commission prior to filing a complaint that’s expected to take issue with testing procedures employed by the commission for Diaz’s UFC 158 opponent, welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre.

Nearly three weeks after the title fight, which St-Pierre won via unanimous decision, Diaz’s camp wants to know what the commission tested for and whether they were evenhanded in screening the pay-per-view event’s headliners at Montreal’s Bell Centre.

“We have now requested … a copy of the Regie’s request to the laboratory specifying which substances the lab was asked to test the sample for (if any),” Tweedale wrote in an email, “and a copy of any documents received from the lab conducting the drug testing showing the precise test results for Mr. Diaz for all substances the sample was actually tested for.”

The commission today declined to name those tested at UFC 158 and what they were tested for. It would only say that six fighters were screened, and that all results came back negative, and that the names were confidential. A total of 24 fighters competed on the March 16 card in Canada.

Athletic commissions typically test champ and challenger in title fights. They are screened for performance-enhancers and drugs of abuse.

The latter was of particular interest prior to UFC 158, when Diaz, who is a medical marijuana user and has twice failed post-fight tests for the drug, implied that he might not pass a test. He also accused St-Pierre of using steroids but offered no proof that the reigning champ used performance-enhancers.

Diaz contemplated retirement and then challenged St-Pierre to a rematch immediately after his loss. Then his camp went on the offensive, releasing a video that showed the commission apparently bent its rules for the event’s weigh-ins, allowing Diaz and St-Pierre to weigh up to 0.9 pounds over the 170-pound limit required of welterweight title fights. In a subsequent statement to the media, Tweedale cited the QAC’s rules and blasted the commission’s behavior. He also hinted at a lapse involving drug testing.

“Further serious irregularities including, inter alia, the Quebec Commission’s failure to supervise fighters’ provision of samples in connection with testing for Prohibited Substances and Prohibited Methods (under sections 71.1 to 71.6 of the Regulation), will be set out in an official complaint that will be filed imminently,” Tweedale wrote.

Tweedale declined additional comment about the forthcoming complaint until he receives the information he requested from the commission. Diaz, according to sources close to his camp, is retired until he gets a rematch with St-Pierre or fights middleweight champ Anderson Silva.

For complete coverage of UFC 158, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

(Pictured: Nick Diaz)