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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Nick Diaz's future in the UFC was briefly put into question on Thursday with the news that he had failed his pre-fight drug test for last weekend's UFC 143 event.
Diaz tested positive for marijuana metabolites, and is on a temporary suspension until a preliminary hearing at the NSAC's April meeting. At that hearing, Diaz can address the positive drug test and attempt to get a reduction in his suspension and/or eventual fine.
With recent precedent, it's likely that Diaz will receive a suspension of at least a year for being a second time offender (he tested positive in Nevada in 2007), as well as a significant fine. However, this situation will not cost him his spot in the UFC should he decide not to simply retire.
UFC owner and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta addressed Diaz's situation on Twitter early this morning while answering questions to fans during an insomnia-induced run on the social networking site.
"He will be back," Fertitta wrote. "[I] really like the kid [he] just needs to get it together. I'm a sap for real fighters."
Penick's Analysis: I'm not surprised that they'd keep him on the roster, and if he decides not to retire he'll get a fight in 2013. The difference for his situation right now is the fact that he lost the fight against Condit. Had he won, and gotten the fight with Georges St-Pierre set up, this could have been an even bigger deal to the UFC as they'd have had to strip him of the title and he'd have taken out a potential challenger to the belt. As it stands, he only cost them a rematch with Condit which, while it would have been interesting, wouldn't have been nearly as lucrative. He also didn't get stopped from going through with Saturday's fight, so he didn't cost them money immediately in the same sense that Nate Marquardt did last summer. Still, even if he returns, it may be hard for the UFC to put him into a really high profile fight if he doesn't learn from this second positive test in Nevada.
[Nick Diaz art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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