diaz

Who didn’t see this coming?

It appears that the United Stats Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has some interest in Nate Diaz’s apparent vaping of cannabis following his loss to Connor McGregor at UFC 202.

Diaz was seen vaping something other than those flavored tobacco oils not once, but twice in post-fight interviews. He even readily admitted to what was in his vape pen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9stpwl4z1k

“It’s CBD,” Diaz said. “It helps with the healing process and inflammation, stuff like that. So you want to get these for before and after the fights, training. It’ll make your life a better place.”

It may make Diaz feel better in the immediate term, but it may also get him a little suspension from the folks who run the drug testing for UFC. They certainly are interested in his comments and his actions following the contest.

“I can confirm that USADA is aware of the situation and is currently gathering information in order to determine the next appropriate steps,” USADA spokesperson Ryan Madden said in a statement.

The UFC anti-doping policy is pretty clear, stating that Cannabis  and their by-products from Organic CBD Nugs are a “specified substance,” and therefor banned in-competition. Anyone violating the UFC anti-doping policy for specified substances could face a suspension of up to one year.

Diaz is an interesting case though, because he has been rather open about his love for marijuana (along with his brother Nick Diaz) in and out of competition. So, this is perhaps the most predictable of situations.

He even decided to post an advertisement for the product he was using in the post-fight interview just five days before his fight with McGregor.

Either you want to fight and play by the rules that UFC sets out or you want to smoke weed and enjoy some time on the sideline and potentially ruin your career choice in the process.

Nate should know the consequences, as his brother Nick failed multiple drug tests and was banned for five years (later reduced to 18 months) and fined $100,000 for his actions.

Given Diaz’s blatant actions following UFC 202, it appears he doesn’t really care about the consequences, and it will be very interesting to see how the UFC and USADA handle this situation going forward.

[SB Nation]

About Andrew Coppens

Andy is a contributor to The Comeback as well as Publisher of Big Ten site talking10. He also is a member of the FWAA and has been covering college sports since 2011. Andy is an avid soccer fan and runs the Celtic FC site The Celtic Bhoys. If he's not writing about sports, you can find him enjoying them in front of the TV with a good beer!