Despite not having fought in just about forever (technically UFC 183 in January 2015), Nick Diaz is still an active member of the UFC roster, and therefore still enrolled in the promotion’s USADA program. That means, among other things, that he must notify the anti-doping agency of his whereabouts at all times.
This evening, however, the UFC released a statement that Diaz was facing a potential USADA violation due to having accumulated three whereabouts failures.
The statement reads in full:
The UFC organization has been notified that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Nick Diaz of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from Diaz’s alleged accumulation of three Whereabouts Failures within a 12-month period. Diaz, like all other UFC athletes, is enrolled in USADA’s UFC Registered Testing Pool and required to file accurate Whereabouts information in order to be located for out-of-competition, no-notice testing.
USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of Diaz’s case, who has been provisionally suspended pending the final resolution of this matter. Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full and fair legal process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed. Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.
Could this be the reason UFC President Dana White feels the elder Diaz is done fighting?
Diaz, of course, is no stranger to controversy, and at one point faced a five year suspension following his drug test failure stemming from his UFC 183 bout against Anderson Silva. Having fought to have that sentence reduced to 18 months, Diaz has yet to return to the cage, and could face another suspension here.
As part of the USADA program, UFC athletes are expected to provide the agency notice of their whereabouts at all times. This is done by quarter, and can be submitted on the USADA website or via an app. Changes to whereabouts must be updated promptly. Thee whereabouts failures in twelve months is considered a violation. Per the USADA website, failures consist of:
- A quarterly whereabouts filing has not been submitted to USADA by the specified deadline;
- The athlete has not updated his/her whereabouts information in a prompt and timely manner; or
- An athlete’s whereabouts information is inaccurate or incomplete to reasonably locate them for testing.
