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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Nate Diaz has officially been suspended by the UFC after calling bantamweight fighter Bryan Caraway "the biggest fag in the world" on Twitter Thursday afternoon. Diaz's comment was made in response to Caraway receiving the UFC 159 "Submission of the Night" bonus after Pat Healy failed a drug test for marijuana, then commenting negatively on marijuana use in the sport.
The UFC released an official statement on the matter Thursday night, expressing disappointment in his comment and promising further comment once they've decided what more to do.
"We are very disappointed by Nate Diaz’s comments, which are in no way reflective of our organization," the UFC's statement read. "Nate is currently suspended pending internal investigation and we will provide further comment once the matter has been decided."
Diaz's comment constituted a violation of the UFC's code of conduct, and the organization acted quickly to respond. UFC President Dana White said earlier in the day Diaz would be either fined, suspended, or cut, and one of the other two options may yet be in play following their investigation.
One thing which may work against him further is the fact that he hasn't deleted the Tweet, and he isn't likely to given the defense of his statement by his manager Mike Kogan in an interview with MMAJunkie.com.
"Nate voiced a personal opinion about an incident that took place involving Bryan Caraway in which he chased Dana all over Twitter to try to get a bonus, which was taken away from Pat Healy, got the bonus, and then had the nerve to go back out there and bash the guy and talk s--t about weed-smoking and how much he hates it and how it's wrong, which was, at best, a s--t move on his side," Kogan said.
"Guess what? The word f----t, at least in Northern California, and where Nate is from, means bitch. It means you're a little punk. It has nothing to do with homosexuals at all. So when Nate made the comment that he made, he didn't make it in reference to homosexuals or calling Caraway a homosexual. He just said it was a bitch move."
"How people take it is beyond my control," Kogan continued. "But that's what his intent was. And it was a bitch move, for the record. Pat Healy? It's not like Pat Healy is Georges St-Pierre and he could afford it. That was probably the most money he's ever made in his life. And because of something he did I'm pretty sure way before the fight ... it's not like he walked out into the cage with f---ing weed in his mouth. He got fined. He doesn't need somebody else dwelling over it.
"I'm sure some people got offended, and hopefully this article will explain what his intent was. But how people view it is how people view it. I can't control that. His intent was not to make a derogatory term toward homosexuals. He used the word to refer to a punk or a bitch."
Penick's Analysis: Kogan's defense of Diaz's initial idiotic tweet is the worst possible "defense" of what Diaz said. His explanation is precisely why the word remains unacceptable from a professional athlete on a public forum. Yes, the word has been used in many areas of the country to refer to a "punk or a bitch," and that's exactly why it's offensive. Saying "that's gay" or calling someone a fag is akin to saying they're "less of a man," which is what the word "fag" has been from hateful people towards the gay community. Of course he's not calling Caraway a homosexual, he's using the word in an attempt to demean Caraway. And it shouldn't be accepted. Diaz isn't likely to be cut, and I don't think he should be, to be clear, but he doesn't deserve sympathy for making an idiotic comment. For those who insist it's no big deal, keep the following comment in mind from comedian Rick Crom from the second episode of the FX series "Louie,":
"You might want to know that every gay man in America has probably had that word shouted at them while they're being beaten up, sometimes many times, sometimes by a lot of people all at once, so when you say it, it brings that all back up."
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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