Recently we've been informed about an abundance of marijuana-related suspensions handed down by the California and Nevada State Athletic Commissions. Some of the suspensions passed by without most of us even knowing about them, like Diego Sanchez, who had already served his time and was preparing to fight again, before his 3 month suspension was even revealed by the CSAC.
Because no one asked, was the reasoning the CSAC gave as to why Sanchez's suspension hadn't been made public earlier. The common first-offense penalty for an MMA fighter testing positive for pot in California is a 3 month suspension and a $500 fine. Sanchez paid his fine and served his time, and then of course got punk'd by Josh Koscheck.
In my opinion, somebody ought to be testing Sanchez again. Seriously people, was Sanchez stoned for that fight or what? Is it all making sense now? Maybe we've uncovered the reason Sanchez was so hesitant (or was it high?) in his first ever loss -- and to Kos no less. The only "Nightmare" Sanchez gave anyone at UFC 69, was one that nearly bored the audience to death. What I really can't wrap my brain around, is why Sanchez continued to not aggress even towards the end of the fight. Could he possibly have thought he was ahead in the fight at this point? If not, then what was there to lose, except possibly opening himself up to a highlight for Koscheck? Is that really it? Did he accept the loss, and the end to an incredibly impressive winning streak, and not gamble for the win because he didn't want to risk losing the fight by a more decisive manner than decision? Someone needed to take Sanchez to see the movie 300 before this fight. Had Sanchez at least went out swinging, he would’ve retained honor and respect. As it was, he lost some of both at UFC 69.
But I digress. Back to the point. Reefer suspensions. Take a look at this eclectic mix of fighters who served suspensions in 2006 and 2007 for THC in California -- Cesar Gracie(!), Anthony Ruiz, Harris Sarmiento, Joe Hurley, Ryan Healy, Randal Limond, Emmanuel Newton, Bas Rutten, Lodune Sincaid, Chuck Booz, Jesse Romero, Paul Mince, Ty Montgomery, Jamiah Williamson, Shad Smith, Ricco Rodriguez and Nate Loughran. All of these fighters were given 3 month suspensions by the CSAC, with the exception of Joe Hurley who got caught twice and served 9 months total. Rodriguez got 6 months because he also tested positive for cocaine.
Nick Diaz and Joe Pearson were recently nabbed by the NSAC for marijuana usage. On Tuesday, as first time offenders, both fighters were given 6 month suspensions and fined 20-percent of their purse by the NSAC. Worse penalty than CA, but what can you really expect outside of Cali-forn-ia? The shocking news came with the NSAC's ruling that the official result for Nick Diaz's submission victory over Takanori Gomi at PRIDE 33 would be changed to a No Contest. Diaz tested positive for marijuana after scoring an amazing gogoplata submission win over Gomi in Las Vegas. The NSAC stated the reasoning behind this unprecedented move was because they believed marijuana acted as an enhancement agent for Diaz in this fight. The NSAC claims Diaz's THC levels were extremely high, pardon the pun, and they believed him to be intoxicated during the actual fight.
Even the Olympics, when dealing with snowboarder PR, don't claim the athletes are gaining an advantage with the marijuana, but rather they say it's an inhibitor which could put athletes at risk. The NSAC is boldly going where I’m not sure really anyone’s gone before, in accusing Diaz of using marijuana to gain an advantage in an athletic contest! Their theory is that because he was stoned, he was able to take more punishment, or something like that. Sounds like they’ve been puffing on the peace pipe with Diaz, too. Diaz told them he wasn’t stoned during the match, but they weren’t buying it. To his defense, Diaz is a highly trained fighter whose job it is to take punishment, so it’s really questionable where that line would be between him being able to take a certain level of punishment or not, based on being high on marijuana or not. Very bizarre ruling by the NSAC. Since Joe Pearson lost to Urijah Faber, he gets to keep his loss. Thankfully for Faber, the NSAC put down the peace pipe before getting too crazy and accidentally overturning his win in an attempt to invalidate Pearon's fight.
I’m not advocating the commissions not test for marijuana, that’s another argument and another article. All of the suspended fighters were aware of the rules and the precedents that had been set for punishment beforehand. Guilty fighters chose to break the rules and were justifiably punished. But overturning the actual official results of a bout? That’s only happened once before with the NSAC, since they changed the rules to allow for such a thing back in December 2005, and it was because of a positive methamphetamine (stimulant) test for boxer Omar Nino. Now certainly, if you lose a fight to a guy high on meth, that’s really not all that fair to you. I can see their point and it makes sense to void the contest. What doesn’t make sense, is how marijuana helped Diaz score a gogoplata on Gomi. Fighters have tested positive for steroids in the past -- you know, the performance enhancing ones -- and their victories have not been rescinded. How in the world does this new precedent get set by a marijuana case? Few will argue steroids are less relevant to gaining advantage in sport than pot. Tim Sylvia’s steroid-tainted victory over Gan McGee still stands, but that was before the NSAC changed their rules, apparently as a reaction to that very match.
A bold new precedent has now been set by the NSAC. It started with meth and went to pot. Now, everything in between is certainly ripe for the picking. Give them an inch, and they’re sure to take a mile. I’m not really sure where I stand on this issue. In some ways it seems fair -- if you violate the rules to gain a physical advantage, then you have cheated and your win has already been invalidated. This moral has been cemented into us since childhood -- cheaters never win. In other ways, though, this level of punishment doesn’t seem fair, considering the questionable nature of certain rules in the first place. The problem with tinkering with history the way the NSAC is currently doing business, is that the whole thing is so subjective. A controversial suspension or fine can be served or paid, and then it’s over. Overturning the actual results of a fight -- that’s forever taking away an athletic accomplishment. The fact that this precedent has now been set, and based, of all things, on an assumption that a fighter used marijuana to gain an advantage in a fight (and not the video game kind -- in an actual ring against one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the entire world), has significantly raised the penalty stakes. I know it’d take a whole lot more than some marijuana to get me in the ring with the Fireball Kid.
Maybe I’m missing something here, but the anti-marijuana ads on the TV seem to imply that it makes people lazy and complacent, with slower reflexes. Seems to me the effects of this weed Diaz apparently just smoked (I guess in the locker room?) probably wore off right around the time Gomi was punching him in the face for the umpteenth time. Well, at least if there wasn’t already reason enough before this, there should be plenty of reason now for Diaz-Gomi II. As for the NSAC madness, well that’s just getting started.
Questions, comments, concerns and the like for Randy Rowles can be e-mailed to mmatorch_predictions@yahoo.com.
