Rap icon Snoop Dogg has volunteered his services to help embattle welterweight Nick Diaz get back into the Octagon.
UFC welterweight Nick Diaz’s fondness for marijuana is well known to MMA fans, and has resulted in him being suspended before. As he looks to return to the cage, rapper and fello marijuana enthusiast Snoop Dogg has offered his services.
UFC President Dana White on the rappers’s ‘GGN’ cannabis-themed site MERRY JANE, the topic of Diaz’s love for marijuana hindering his return to fighting came up (h/t Simon Samano of MMAjunkie)
"White: The other thing is this – you have to not smoke marijuana for 24 hours.Snoop Dogg: That’s it?White: Yeah, he fights three times a year! So you can’t stay off marijuana for 24 hours for three days a year.Snoop Dogg: Nick, c’mon, man. … I can’t believe this is the rules that you (expletive) is violating. I’m putting a weed class together for (you). We’re going to do this 12-step, no 10, no three steps."
In terms of competition, Diaz (26-9), a former Strikeforce champion and UFC title challenger, has not been seen inside the Octagon since his unanimous decision loss Anderson Silva at UFC 183 in January 2015. Following the bout it was revealed Diaz had tested positive for marijuana.
This marked the third time he has failed his post fight drug test, with each failure being for marijuana metabolites. Diaz had previously tested positive following his 2007 win over Takanori Gomi and again following his 2012 loss to Carlos Condit.
However, following his third failure, former Nevada State Athletic Commissioners Pat Lundvall and Francisco Aguilar presented the possibility of a lifetime ban due to Diaz’s two previous positive tests. Then there was his decision not to show up for a previous pre-fight test failures as well as his role in the infamous 2010 brawl in Nashville during a Strikeforce event. After much deliberation, the sentence was eventually dropped to five years.
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The commission again reduced its penalty against Diaz after a settlement, resulting in a retroactive suspension of 18 months and a $100,000 fine.