cholitzu
23-02-2010, 20:46
- TRAINER TALKS NICK DIAZ'S MARIJUANA USE
Friday, February 19, 2010 - by Jeff Cain - MMAWeekly.com
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/articlefiles/10789-NickDiazFrankShamrockSF0409_7861_crop.jpg
Nick Diaz’s trainer, Cesar Gracie, recently spoke candidly to MMAWeekly.com content partner TapouT Radio about his student’s use of marijuana and Diaz’s win over Takanori Gomi being taken away after a positive test.
“People who don’t like Nick Diaz, that doesn’t make sense to me because here’s a guy who has never put a syringe in his (expletive) in his life. He’s a clean fighter. That’s the way it is,” said Gracie.
“He wants to smoke a little weed every once in a while. Who am I to say what a grown man can do? That’s my take on it.”
Gracie was careful to point out that he’s not endorsing marijuana use for anyone.
“I’m not advocating anyone (use marijuana). That’s a personal choice, like I wouldn’t advocate if you wanted to drink a beer or not,” he said. “I think it’s the exact same thing.”
There’s been a lot made of Diaz’s marijuana use because the athlete doesn’t hide it and has officially failed one drug test following a win over Takanori Gomi. That win was later overturned and ruled a no contest by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, making history as the first MMA win to be overturned due to a fighter failing a drug test in that state.
“He’s got a legal license in California for it, a doctor’s prescription for his ADHD, so it’s not illegal for where he’s at here,” Gracie explained.
It is, however, a violation of state regulations regarding licensing of mixed martial artists in Nevada and California, which is a separate issue from Diaz's legal rights regarding his prescription for the treatment of ADHD.
“Obviously it’s not a performance enhancing drug, so therefore trying to take the guy’s win away – all of these guys testing positive for steroids, and we’ll focus on Nick’s weed thing forever. Let’s talk about that forever. Oh, we did steroids, that’s fine. Let’s not talk about that. You did some cocaine or something,” continued the trainer. “People have this fetish for the weed thing or something.”
Gracie spoke at length about Diaz’s win over Gomi being overturned, and thinks there’s more to the situation than meets the eye.
“It doesn’t give you an advantage. I was there for the Gomi fight and Nick was not stoned for the Gomi fight. That would have made him too slow. You can’t be completely stoned and wanting to hang out on the couch or something,” stated Gracie.
“Obviously he wasn’t stoned for Gomi, but Nevada State with that idiot over there. I can’t remember his name. The little moron guy that was only an athletic commissioner guy because his daddy owned the hotel. He was pathetic and he wanted to make an example of Nick because, who knows?
“There are theories. Nick wasn’t in the UFC. The day Nick’s not in the UFC he’s testing positive. That was kind of a weird thing because he always smoked the night before (UFC fights). Then all of a sudden he’s in Pride and he’s testing positive. Oh we’re going to take your win away,” alleged Gracie.
“Pride actually paid him a win bonus after he tested positive. They said, ‘nah, this is just a bunch of Nevada (expletive), and he won that fight.’ He got the win bonus and he went on from there.”
After testing positive two years ago, Diaz has vowed to not fail another drug screening and hasn’t, but continues to actively participate in the use of medical marijuana.
“These days he takes ten days off and does herbal cleansers or whatever. He said, ‘hey, I’m not going to test positive again,’ and he hasn’t since. He quits smoking before his fights now. He got tested in Florida and it came up clean.”
Friday, February 19, 2010 - by Jeff Cain - MMAWeekly.com
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/articlefiles/10789-NickDiazFrankShamrockSF0409_7861_crop.jpg
Nick Diaz’s trainer, Cesar Gracie, recently spoke candidly to MMAWeekly.com content partner TapouT Radio about his student’s use of marijuana and Diaz’s win over Takanori Gomi being taken away after a positive test.
“People who don’t like Nick Diaz, that doesn’t make sense to me because here’s a guy who has never put a syringe in his (expletive) in his life. He’s a clean fighter. That’s the way it is,” said Gracie.
“He wants to smoke a little weed every once in a while. Who am I to say what a grown man can do? That’s my take on it.”
Gracie was careful to point out that he’s not endorsing marijuana use for anyone.
“I’m not advocating anyone (use marijuana). That’s a personal choice, like I wouldn’t advocate if you wanted to drink a beer or not,” he said. “I think it’s the exact same thing.”
There’s been a lot made of Diaz’s marijuana use because the athlete doesn’t hide it and has officially failed one drug test following a win over Takanori Gomi. That win was later overturned and ruled a no contest by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, making history as the first MMA win to be overturned due to a fighter failing a drug test in that state.
“He’s got a legal license in California for it, a doctor’s prescription for his ADHD, so it’s not illegal for where he’s at here,” Gracie explained.
It is, however, a violation of state regulations regarding licensing of mixed martial artists in Nevada and California, which is a separate issue from Diaz's legal rights regarding his prescription for the treatment of ADHD.
“Obviously it’s not a performance enhancing drug, so therefore trying to take the guy’s win away – all of these guys testing positive for steroids, and we’ll focus on Nick’s weed thing forever. Let’s talk about that forever. Oh, we did steroids, that’s fine. Let’s not talk about that. You did some cocaine or something,” continued the trainer. “People have this fetish for the weed thing or something.”
Gracie spoke at length about Diaz’s win over Gomi being overturned, and thinks there’s more to the situation than meets the eye.
“It doesn’t give you an advantage. I was there for the Gomi fight and Nick was not stoned for the Gomi fight. That would have made him too slow. You can’t be completely stoned and wanting to hang out on the couch or something,” stated Gracie.
“Obviously he wasn’t stoned for Gomi, but Nevada State with that idiot over there. I can’t remember his name. The little moron guy that was only an athletic commissioner guy because his daddy owned the hotel. He was pathetic and he wanted to make an example of Nick because, who knows?
“There are theories. Nick wasn’t in the UFC. The day Nick’s not in the UFC he’s testing positive. That was kind of a weird thing because he always smoked the night before (UFC fights). Then all of a sudden he’s in Pride and he’s testing positive. Oh we’re going to take your win away,” alleged Gracie.
“Pride actually paid him a win bonus after he tested positive. They said, ‘nah, this is just a bunch of Nevada (expletive), and he won that fight.’ He got the win bonus and he went on from there.”
After testing positive two years ago, Diaz has vowed to not fail another drug screening and hasn’t, but continues to actively participate in the use of medical marijuana.
“These days he takes ten days off and does herbal cleansers or whatever. He said, ‘hey, I’m not going to test positive again,’ and he hasn’t since. He quits smoking before his fights now. He got tested in Florida and it came up clean.”