Bloody Elbow

AwkwardwithwordmakingisGoldberg,huhJoe - February 10, 2012 reply

He should appeal

AFAIK he has prescription for medical marijuana and it is not a PED, so with Sonnen, Marquardt and Co being able to legally juice with Testosterone replacement therapy, it’s doubly ridiculous that Diaz be persecuted for his weed. And it’s about time this shit made legal anyways.The whole marijuana prohibition is the biggest hypocrisy ever and causing hundreds of thousands of people absolutely unnecessary troubles. Diaz has money, so he should try to raise this issue in some legal way.

Derrida - February 10, 2012 reply

that wont’ work. Marquardt still got suspended because he didn’t go through the process of getting an exemption before the fight. Having a prescription is irrelevant. To use something that is on the banned list you need to get an exemption before hand. He didn’t.

Phildo - February 10, 2012 reply

Nailed it

If he had the prescription in Nevada at that time they might allowed a TUE.

But he didn’t. So we’ll probably never know.

If I was lawyer I would pursue that route. Obtain a medical card in Nevada(if he even can as a non-resident, I’m not sure), then request a TUE.

That’s the best possible move going forward IMO.

TheFilt - February 10, 2012 reply

If I was Diaz' lawyer, I would argue that h smoked the marijuana whil still in California

Where he is legally allowed to smoke it due to his licence. A pretty flimsy defense, since he still had traces of it in his blood when tested in Nevada, but still worth an argument.

Erasedhead - February 11, 2012 reply

I love that Nick was born without a single fuck to give.

this x 1000

i need to follow him closer, he’s become my favourite fighter

Cunny - February 10, 2012 reply

This comment is like what I'm talking about...

… is that … you know … I’m not no chump. I’m not going to just talk shit or whatever…
…I can’t remember where I was really going with that.

im making this comment my signature

SikTechnique - February 10, 2012 reply

Exactly this.

I’m glad this is the first post on here. Thank you.

LeDuc - February 9, 2012 reply

Im confuse

Clay Davis - February 9, 2012 reply

I know he won't be cut from the UFC

But even if he goes on a tear and beats Condit, Fitch, Hendricks when he comes back, how do you justify giving him a title shot?

kellly - February 9, 2012 reply

Because he would have beaten all of them.

BenDuronio - February 9, 2012 reply

Apparently not…

Empty Thoughts - February 9, 2012 reply

No kidding

That would be a better streak than beating Bisping and Stann and quoting Superstar Billy Graham.

MicahtheCynic - February 10, 2012 reply

if he beat condit fitch hendricks in succession that would be a damn good reason

MaZZacare - February 9, 2012 reply

Apparently, Diaz could have appiled for TUE but didn't

I wondered about that myself, but Corey contacted Kieth Kizer and he responding by saying that.

For that I blame the his management

The guys who are in charge of handling him should find out loopholes like that to make his training life easier. Instead what Diaz gets is another suspension in NV (forthcoming obviously) and a big hitch on his career.

And just when he was able to pay for that beat up Honda he was complaining about….

I know you're joking

But the dude just made a fuck load of money and a couple hundred grand a few months ago.

He could probably buy a damn Bently and a mansion by now if he had any idea how to deal with money.

Also

Kizer may have been talking out of his ass knowing that the TUE wouldn’t be granted.

He didn't say it would have been granted

He said he could have applied.

yeah....

The Executive Director of the Nevada Athletic Commission talks out of his ass. Besides, whether or not it would have been granted isnt relevant. Diaz, or his management, didnt even bother to TRY and get him cleared to smoke

The Executive Director of the Nevada Athletic Commission talks out of his ass.

You new?

Are we talking about the same Keith Kizer?

Keith is the Executive Director of the Nevada Athletic Commission

Who also talks out of his ass.

Tim Bernier - February 9, 2012 reply

lol what the hell @ this

That right there is one of the things Mania does well – occasionally you’ll see hilarious photoshops like this accompanying the news. I believe Jesse Holland does most of them.

Horselover Fat - February 9, 2012 reply

This is my favorite, from the post called "UFC 128: Urijah Faber 'not planning on getting donkey-slammed' in Newark"

Horselover Fat - February 9, 2012 reply

DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN... ... ... ...

I consider it a challenge to Anton

Show em what’s up Tabuena!

Well he obviously does fine work too, but usually more classy stuff for the liveposts and whatnot

Horselover Fat - February 9, 2012 reply

LOL at the eyes, dude!

Also,

LOL that he failed to drug test for a fight he clearly would have lost, right smack in the middle of his hype train.

what?

Hieron

oh ok I just didn’t understand what you were saying.. I’m familiar with the Hieron incident.

From Cory Braiterman

I asked Keith Kizer, the Executive Director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, about athletes who use marijuana for medical reasons. I asked how this factors in with testing and/or punishment. This was his reply…

Athletes can request a therapeutic use exemption but no one asked for one for UFC 143.

That's beyond pathetic

Seriously.

Scott Whitaker - February 9, 2012 reply

What part of it is pathetic?

The fact that pot is worse than steroids?

How is anything here saying it's "worse"

He’s probably looking at the same suspension he’d get if he popped for steroids. The standard 1 year that he’d get for any other banned substance.

I'm not saying that it is directly

but I don’t think a TUE would really be granted in Nevada for pot, but we all know they have no issue with TRT.

I was more-so talking about Scott’s comment that its ‘pathetic’.

how are you jumping to this conclusion? It’s pathetic that he didn’t even try to get an exemption. There’s really no excuse. if he gets the exemption, he doesn’t have to do whatever he has to do to test clean, and can spend more time training/cutting weight/concentrating on the fight.

I don’t know how people can get all mad at the commission when he didn’t even try. Comparing it to TRT is dumb, because he didn’t even try.

I'm not mad at anyone

Especially the commission. Why would I even care, let alone be mad at the NSAC for doing their jobs?

how are you jumping to this conclusion?

You may not be aware, but marijuana is far from legal or accepted in Nevada.

so? Legal has nothing to do with it. Tons of other drugs that are available via prescription, over the counter, etc, are banned. Whining about the commission when he didn’t even bother applying for an exemption is lame.

Legal has everything to do with it

If he has no prescription, which he doesn’t, it isn’t legal.

I’m in no way whining about the commission. They did the right thing so shut the fuck up and stop putting words in my mouth.

no it doesn’t. You are saying that they won’t approve it because you say so. That’s a pretty useless standard.

Christ

Ok. You win.

I’m just happy you stopped putting words in my mouth.

What is it about this fight that is making people fucking assholes?

You need to shut the fuck up and

read the following again

Athletes can request a therapeutic use exemption but no one asked for one for UFC 143

Also FYI in the state of Nevada smoking MJ is legal with prescription.

Haisenberg - February 10, 2012 reply

You need to shut the fuck

and learn to read.

I know damn well what he said, but the conversation is over head.

TheFilt - February 10, 2012 reply

I doubt it would be granted for pot as well

But the TUE application policy is still in place. As far as TRT, we really don’t know what kind of standards they have for approval, so it’s not fair to speculate.

I'm not disputing whether or not it has its place

or anything at all.

I was just disputing the point that, in this case, marijuana is shown to be in any way worse than TRT or PEDs

Like I said

I was more-so talking about public opinion, but there is an extremely slim chance an illegal substance would be approved for use by the NSAC.

Yup, you're point about Nevada not being a decriminalized state is very solid.

Time to bust this one out.

pdl - February 9, 2012 reply

You have a point about my minor grammatical error

You fail because you used a friends gif to make your point.

It's worse because

You can fight with permission for TRT, but not with permission for medical marijuana.

Incidentally, they’re both mostly BS. TRT for athletes is idiocy. Might as well let everyone have testosterone up to some arbitrary level. Medical marijuana is mostly idiocy, except for the small percentage of people taking it to manage the excruciating pain of cancer.

His medical marijuana prescription allows him to smoke legally, as a TRT prescription allows someone to take Test legally. Neither prescription allows an athlete to compete at a sanctioned event. In either case, the athlete has to request an exemption.

His medical marijuana prescription allows him to smoke legally,

In California. It makes no sense to believe for a second that the NSAC would approve the use a substance that is outlawed on both the state and federal level.

Have to agree with you. I doubt he'd get approved, as I said above

Just saying that a prescription means nothing as far as an exemption is concerned.

then why wouldn’t he say, “we wouldn’t offer an exemption for marijuana” instead of “no one applied.”

Ask him

Scott Whitaker - February 18, 2012 reply

Diego

Not bothering to get an exemption.

Kizer didn't say that they would actually grant a TUE for weed though.

Didn't say that he did

But applying for a TUE would have probably been the best course of action for an admitted habitual smoker

While I agree that a TUE seems like a logical step, due to the legality of the substance I would not be surprised if turned out that his legal council suggested against it.

I mean, he’s not a Nevada resident, there’s some conflict between state and federal laws, and his applications are legally binding documents submitted to a government agency…

Bloody L - February 11, 2012 reply

I was wondering if that was a possibility. Since he has his card and admits to smoking just apply for the license. That way if you don’t get clean within the week you’re trying to at least you can say you disclosed it.

Deim0sRising - February 9, 2012 via mobile reply

Nevada is not cannibis friendly

To say the least.

http://health.nv.gov/MedicalMarijuana.htm

Does he have a prescription in Nevada?

i have no idea, but when i think of not cannibis friendly, i tend to think of the states that don’t allow it at all.

Ok

So he doesn’t/

fair enough

That removes the annoying “you gotta rematch!” crowd. Not their reasoning, just the end result. Which is good enough for me. Let’s move along with the WW division now … devoid of the nuisance and drama …

glib_mf - February 9, 2012 reply

The link for the 2007 interview goes to the Ben Fowlkes write up.

dissever - February 9, 2012 reply

thanks will fix

Nate Wilcox - February 9, 2012 reply

I really liked that interview

dissever - February 9, 2012 reply

That’s why I love Diaz….. __

Afrotikiman - February 9, 2012 via mobile reply

It's very simple to break this down...

Fowlkes brings up an excellent about about testosterone levels. It’s ironic that fighters like Chael Sonnen, Dan Henderson, Nate Marquardt and Todd Duffee have been allowed to get prescriptions for testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) but Diaz, with his prescription for medical marijuana can’t get a pass.

Chael and Co. are given TRT because they go to a doctor, they can run tests that show definitively that they, are in fact, low on testosterone. They prescribe replacement therapy as a solution to the problem. One, mind you…that is likely not caused by the diagnosed person in any fashion.

Nick Diaz can go and get a medical marijuana card in California for pain. He doesn’t need tests, or any proof he has a condition. He walks in, pleads his case for anxiety, pain, depression…a hangnail might do the trick. I guess he doesn’t have to worry about MMA getting in the way of his smoking for 12 months or more.

Dana is disappointed more that he is losing boatloads of cash should Diaz beat Condit. However, the WW division as a whole is more than likely celebrating that the logjam never happened.

At the end of the day, Diaz couldn’t beat the system…and honestly shouldn’t have even tried. If you don’t want to follow the rules, don’t sweat the details when you get caught.

Chael and Co. are given TRT because they go to a doctor, they can run tests that show definitively that they, are in fact, low on testosterone.

These tests you’re talking about can easily be manipulated and are open to interpretation by the individual doctor.

TRT for athletes is crap

Especially for those who are in their mid-30s or younger. Obviously, they didn’t previously have testosterone problems or were able to be successful despite them. The most prevalent reason for low-T in younger men is steroid abuse.

Even for older athletes, it’s BS. They let you bring your testosterone up to ‘the average’ but what does that mean? The average is a range. That means some athletes with ‘low-T’ can get TRT up to a higher level than athletes in the lower end of the normal range. Uh, huh. Either they should enforce PED restrictions strictly which means none are allowed period, or EVERYONE should be allowed to be on them so long as they are given by doctors licensed by the athletic commissions.

Oh, I'm sorry...I didn't know we had doctors in the room.

So which is it? Crap or a conspiracy? Look, why is everyone talking about how much BS it is to get something like TRT…but no one seems to want to talk about how insanely easy it is to get a pot card?

You are making the same argument against TRT that I am against pot.

Oh, I agree with you on the pot

It’s just that pot doesn’t give you an advantage in the ring.

But yes, I agree, medical marijuana usage is mostly total BS. Very few of those people with the cards actually have legitimate needs, like for cancer pain management.

Rules?

I’m not entirely sure why “it’s just pot” seems to be an ok answer.

We are not the Commission. We are (probably) not doctors. We are fans of a sport where people fight.

Pages and pages can be written on why pot is “ok”. Or why one things is ok by the Commission but the other isn’t. Does TRT equal steroids? (it doesn’t)

In order to fight professionally, there has to be a governing body. NSAC does not allow pot and Diaz chose to not follow the rules. Why people are sorry for him, or want to champion a cause for a guy who would probably spit in their faces if given the chance…it’s beyond me.

...uhhh

I get the feeling you’re either disconnecting from the content of my posts or you’re arguing with someone else but happening to include your stuff in the replies to me… Because I am mostly agreeing with you, man.

Except that TRT replaces testosterone… which is chemically a steroid. It has the same effect as other anabolic steroids.

I’m hardly in the ’it’s just pot’ crowd. You break the rules, you break ’em and should be suspended. But for me, TRT is definitively worse, because it does provide a measurable combat advantage.

I'm agreeing with you

And see you are agreeing with me. When people are replying, it’s moving me comments around. I don’t post often, as it’s better to just be an observer in these things.

But I’m avoiding watching Grey’s Anatomy with my girlfriend right now by doing this. (speaking of testosterone replacement…) :(

Do some research

Its not hard to get a prescription for testosterone.

Sounds to me like Diaz could have had a pass...

I asked Keith Kizer, the Executive Director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, about athletes who use marijuana for medical reasons. I asked how this factors in with testing and/or punishment. This was his reply…

Athletes can request a therapeutic use exemption but no one asked for one for UFC 143.

Chael provided doctor statements and medical tests. Why shouldn’t, or didn’t…Diaz do the same?

He doesn't have a prescription in Nevada.

Well, isn't that a son of a bitch...

Sounds like we just solved the problem. Next issue.

I don't even care

or disagree.

You changed the topic

I replied saying its easy to get TRT.

I guess it wasn't clear...

If your comment of “he doesn’t have a prescription in Nevada” was about Diaz, or Chael. My mistake and apology.

No problem

Chael provided those at his hearing. Diaz hasn't had one yet.

Yep

He’ll probably get his suspension reduced if he chooses to do that.

There Vegas odds on that?

Getting popped twice by them…I suspect they wont go easy on him at all.

Their incompetence and ability to be swayed by the UFC

never ceases to amaze me.

To be a fly on the wall...

And get some definitive proof of just how in bed those two are with each other…

Only Marc Ratner really knows :)

I thought Ratner was former CSAC?

Nope

He’s the old Keith Kizer.

Kizer will work for Zuffa soon, too.

IIRC Zuffa has somewhere around 5 former NSAC member. There’s only 5 seats on the commission.

TheFilt - February 10, 2012 reply

don’t base anything on chael’s hearing. It’s a different state. California has reduced suspensions for calling them names.

Hardy's in your face - February 9, 2012 reply

Hes retired everyone! so it doesnt matter!

terzergoss - February 9, 2012 reply

The problem I have with the way this is adminstered is the tests are

not designed to detect current impairment on marijuana but rather past usage going back several weeks or longer. The reason this bothers me is that Kizar says the reasons for banning it are due to possible ill effects while intoxicated such as delayed response time.
If you’re worried about athletes being intoxicated with marijuana while competing then do a test that detects for current impairment instead this current tests that often only detects previous theraputic usage. Of course the smart thing to do would be to apply for a TUE but I really disagree with the whole notion that if a fighter smokes weed a week ago before the fight then the commission needs to be aware of this. Do they also need to be aware of a glass of beer a fighter may have had a week out?

Nick is a child, that's all

He has poor impulse control and that’s all there is to it. He does what he wants, when he wants, like training, fighting, or blowing off promotional meets and ranting. It’s never his fault, it’s always somebody else who is wrong. Waste thousands of dollars in tickets? It’s not his money. Lose a huge chunk of his money because of his suspension? They shouldn’t be suspending him anyway, it’s all the Man.

For some reason, many fans like this behavior.

This article hits the nail on the head. Nick Diaz reminds me of someone like Bobby Fischer, someone was so good at the game he plays yet so inept with the public. Watching Nick at these different press conferences is so painful it’s almost sadistic. You can see that he’s in pain having to deal with the media. It’s not like Brock or someone like that, there is obvious discomfort and anxiety. He missed three flights heading to LV last week and he did more press than he ever has. Let the guy smoke his fucking weed. This isn’t like Karo who has anxiety in the cage, Nick’s at home in the cage. That’s where we love to watch him. Let him smoke all he wants leading up to the fight, he has a script. Why put him thru the agony?

memitim - February 9, 2012 via mobile reply

Because UNPROFESSIONAL, man!

And I hate it when Nick Diaz does the shit I expect him to do because he has a history of doing it before so I reserve the right of criticizing him.

the sarcasm font requires manual carriage returns. but he does has a his though, i agree.

Rob Young - February 10, 2012 reply

there are so many things that piss me off with this article i don't know where to start

but I might as well start here:

" It’s utterly maddening for such a talented fighter, a man at the peak of his athletic abilities to be looking at losing up to a year of his fighting career over something so avoidable."

really?

The guy clearly suffers from some form of mental illness and has basically said that weed helps him cope. Who are you to judge his actions? as someone who knows what a mindfuck anxiety conditions can be I sympathize with his predicament even if i think he’s a complete dick and would love to see GSP maul him (i for one think that GSP let the fight with Kos go on because he didn’t mind making him suffer).

It’s a cliche but in this case ‘walk a mile in someone else’s shoes’ is appropriate. And because I’m too lazy to retype i’ll just repost what I said earlier in terms of what i think his (potentially legitimate) defense will be:

“I wonder if he’ll try and claim that the Commision’s requirements are unduly restrictive and that if the concern is in-ring safety the levels and the tests (and metabolite thresholds) need to be set at a high enough level that you’d have to be high (and therefore a danger to yourself) at the TIME OF THE FIGHT.

IMO whether or not weed is illegal in Nevada is immaterial if the threshold is set at a low enough level that one could reasonably expect someone who lives in a state where it IS legal to test positive even when they haven’t consumed any in-state.

BTW I scored this 49-46 condit so it’s not like i’m a diaz nuthugger. but some of you guys really need to take a step back and consider the possibility that you have no fucking clue what this guy is dealing with and leave it at that.

TubbyMcFats - February 9, 2012 reply

If he's got serious mental issues

He needs a psychiatrist and ACTUAL prescriptions for whatever he’s got. Otherwise, no, why should we have sympathy for his anxieties? He’s an adult, he’s got adult handlers, he has the discipline to push his body through brutal training and harsh fights. Either he’s mentally competent and is responsible for himself, which includes getting a psychiatrist to cope, or he’s not mentally competent and shouldn’t even be in the ring. Self-medicating with weed for anxiety is BS.

You’re clueless to what real anxiety is and how to deal with it. Not a clue.

memitim - February 9, 2012 via mobile reply

You can't have it both ways.

Either he’s an adult able to be responsible for himself, including following rules and acknowledging that he has a problem and needs professional treatment, or he is mentally incapacitated and needs others to be responsible for him and for his treatment.

Anyone can look up anxiety on the DSM-IV. If he’s got serious problems, pot obviously isn’t the answer since he STILL misses press conferences and skips plane flights.

Like I said, you don’t have a clue if you think it’s that simple. Go read DSM-IV. Doesn’t mean shit. Go read a book about flying, doesn’t mean shit as far as knowing the experience till you actually do it. You may not see it, because you don’t have a clue, but Nick made huge progress last week with the unbelievable amount of press he did. Yes, he fucked up, but he did more than he ever has before. It’s a process and Nick made great progress.

memitim - February 9, 2012 via mobile reply

Please.

To enablers like yourself, I could be a fully accredited psychiatrist with 5 publications in medical journals and you would say I don’t know shit.

Do some research on pubmed. Cannabis use + social anxiety disorders result in worse symptoms than either one alone. Having SAD doesn’t excuse someone self-medicating with pot; in fact, pot makes it worse.

Peer-reviewed research + statistics is greater than your personal life experience.

spamslots - February 10, 2012 reply

Show me some published facts about that.

I’d like to know whether this is 100% true or just the result of some study with a limited sample.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22266089

Sample size of about 5000.

spamslots - February 10, 2012 reply

BRB. Lemme check.

it has all the usual limitations

And CUD is not the same as ‘cannabis use’ so it won’t satisfy your 100% true question, but that’s a pretty convincing association.

spamslots - February 10, 2012 reply

Doesn't load, man.

Don’t you have another link?

Shite.

It’s the homepage, it seems. Won’t load for me.

Finally loaded!

What you sent me was: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22266089

I also read this:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20829306

They are about a year apart, yours being about a year newer.

The thing with your stuff is that correlation does not translate to causation, especially when they use the term dependence and abuse non-interchangeably.

As per the abstract:

Although SAD is related to CUD, it has a stronger association with cannabis dependence than abuse. This link is not better accounted for by other psychopathology measured in this study. SAD onset prior to CUD for the majority of CUD-SAD respondents. Importantly, the co-occurrence of these two disorders appears to result in greater impairment and distress than either disorder alone.

Which I can only assume it means that SAD is more associated to folk who depend on it—when they’re hooked. As in a psychological dependence, I’d assume. In short: it isn’t conclusive, I’m afraid.

It is useful within the confines of the study, though, where they chose data from a survey. But you failed to mention that only 340 had both CUD-SAD, unlike the other 2957 of whom had CUD and no SAD, 1643 had SAD and no CUD (I used copy pasta from the abstract, I should note).

To this we could say that we could fit Nick into both the abuse and dependence fields depending on the criteria we were trying to use, but, then again, that would be irresponsible as we haven’t done a study on the guy (and the methodology has to be the same).

I also read this:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20829306

Seems to be about using the compound of CBD to develop a drug to calm folk, which was then used in human trials.

This is the last thing on the abstract:

These results suggest that CBD reduces anxiety in SAD and that this is related to its effects on activity in limbic and paralimbic brain areas.

This should, at the very least, lend some credence to what memitin said. Though I should note that this wasn’t smoked weed.

Either way, according to these Brazillian guys, the compound does have positive effects.

He isn’t self-medicating when he has a MJ card. Get it thru your fucking head. You are beyond clueless. Stop posting about shit you don’t know the fuck about. It makes you look like an ignorant fool.

memitim - February 10, 2012 via mobile reply

And I can tell by your ignorant remarks that you aren’t anyone who has been published for shit regarding anxiety. You are just spewing nonsense and it’s obvious.

memitim - February 10, 2012 via mobile reply

You can check the abstract of the article he linked.

They correlate, but they do not base their argument around causation.