UFC featherweight contender Diego “DB” Brandao has been temporarily suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) after failing a drug test surrounding his third round submission loss to Brian Ortega at January 2’s UFC 195 from Las Vegas, Nevada. According to MMAFighting.com, Brandao tested positive for Marijuana metabolites, as his levels exceeded both the
UFC featherweight contender Diego “DB” Brandao has been temporarily suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) after failing a drug test surrounding his third round submission loss to Brian Ortega at January 2’s UFC 195 from Las Vegas, Nevada.
According to MMAFighting.com, Brandao tested positive for Marijuana metabolites, as his levels exceeded both the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) limits, as well as the NSAC limits.
The Brazilian should expect to stand before the commission at a hearing in the near future where a full punishment will be decided on.
The 28 year old burst onto the scene after submitting Dennis Bermudez in 2011 to win the 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF).
Since then, Brandao has gone just 5-4 in the Octagon, holding stoppage victories over the likes of Pablo Garza, Jimmy Hettes, and Katsunori Kikuno. He has also suffered setbacks to household names like Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor, as well as his most recent loss to Ortega.
What type of consequences do you see fitting for “DB’s” actions?
Details and Diaz’s reaction to the hearing are after the jump.
And not only that, but Diaz was additionally fined 33 percent of his purse, or $150,000.
I feel like this is where I normally would launch into some hyperbolic rant about the state of mixed martial arts regulation, but I’m absolutely speechless. If Diaz’s suspension is somehow upheld, he will not be able to return to competition until he is 36 years old (unless the UFC releases him from his contract and allows him to fight overseas, which LOL). The most confusing angle of all this? Anderson Silva tested positive for steroids on two occasions prior to UFC 183 and received a slap on the wrist. Diaz tested positive for marijuana once in three tests and received a suspension five times as long.
According to ESPN, however, Diaz’s attorney, Lucas Middlebrook, Diaz will appeal the commission’s “personal vendetta suspension” at the earliest convenience.
The online reaction to the NSAC hearing has been swift and brutal. BloodyElbow’s Connor Ruebusch, in an open letter, wrote that the letter set a clear precedence that “obeisance is preferable to innocence.” Marc Raimondi called the whole thing a “farce” and even Ariel Helwani got in on the pile-on, stating “Once again NAC sends message that they would prefer you admit to all with a puppy dog face, kiss their ass and beg for forgiveness. Insanity.”
Diaz’s reaction was a bit…um…less eloquent. (via Brett Okamoto)
This isn’t to mention the fact that the NSAC’s hearing violates the rules they put into place four months ago, which suggested a 36-month ban for third offense marijuana users. So add that to the list of things that are completely f*cked up about today’s hearing.
The sweeping changes instituted by the Nevada Athletic Commission during a Friday meeting will forever change the way users of performance-enhancing drugs are punished when caught. It has been a long time coming. For years, the Nevada commission (and many others around the world) turned a deaf ear to the PED problem in combat sports. The […]
The sweeping changes instituted by the Nevada Athletic Commission during a Friday meeting will forever change the way users of performance-enhancing drugs are punished when caught. It has been a long time coming. For years, the Nevada commission (and many others around the world) turned a deaf ear to the PED problem in combat sports. The […]
If you hadn’t noticed by now, Nick Diaz is something of an anomaly. He says he hates fighting, yet it’s seemingly all he understands. He both fights too much and not enough to support his family…that he hopes to one day acquire. He is both a laid-back stoner and the drunk guy at the bar who will smack you for looking at him the wrong way. He has no belief, but he believes, he’s a walking contradiction (and he ain’t got no riiiiiiiiiight).
So it more or less falls in line with Diaz’s way of thinking that he would take a two-year break from the sport that has given him everything, complain about how little said sport has given him, rejoin the workforce, and be forced right back out of a job on account of his own willing incompetence. Does that make any sense? It shouldn’t.
The point is, Diaz pulled the equivalent of a hit-and-run on the UFC when he once again failed a post-fight drug test for marijuana. And today, NSAC test results confirm that he wasn’t even trying to hide it in the weeks prior to UFC 183.
If you hadn’t noticed by now, Nick Diaz is something of an anomaly. He says he hates fighting, yet it’s seemingly all he understands. He both fights too much and not enough to support his family…that he hopes to one day acquire. He is both a laid-back stoner and the drunk guy at the bar who will smack you for looking at him the wrong way. He has no belief, but he believes, he’s a walking contradiction (and he ain’t got no riiiiiiiiiight).
So it more or less falls in line with Diaz’s way of thinking that he would take a two-year break from the sport that has given him everything, complain about how little said sport has given him, rejoin the workforce, and be forced right back out of a job on account of his own willing incompetence. Does that make any sense? It shouldn’t.
The point is, Diaz pulled the equivalent of a hit-and-run on the UFC when he once again failed a post-fight drug test for marijuana. And today, NSAC test results confirm that he wasn’t even trying to hide it in the weeks prior to UFC 183.
According to NSAC Executive Director Bob Bennett,, the marijuana metabolites in Diaz’s urine sample “were measured at 300 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml). The level is double the 150 ng/mL limit set in 2013 after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and NSAC raised its testing threshold.”
Of course, this might explain why Diaz wasn’t even licensed to fight Silva until three days prior to UFC 183. (via MMAJunkie):
Bennett said Diaz had also risked not being licensed for the event when he did not provide a clean drug test to the commission per a previous suspension for marijuana.
“I want to say that around (Jan.) 28th, I notified the UFC that he would not be able to fight unless we got a test that showed he was clean,” Bennett said.
Diaz (26-10 MMA, 7-7 UFC) was cleared to fight Silva (34-6 MMA, 17-2 UFC) at the Jan. 31 event, which took place at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena and aired on pay-per-view. His license reportedly came after he took several drug tests given to him by his camp.
Translation: Diaz had someone in his camp who wasn’t high as sh*t take his piss test for him, while the NSAC did what they always do and looked the other way.
Speaking of contradictions, just wait until you hear Diaz’s longtime coach, Cesar Gracie, try to both explain away Diaz’s test results while confirming that Diaz puffs more ganja than George Clinton.
In an interview with MMAJunkie, Gracie stated that, “My understanding was he passed the test, then he fought and then after he passed the test, he did not smoke. The exertion of the fight affected the test and that’s why [Diaz] tested positive,” which is nothing short mind-blowing in the absolute lack of basic science it displays. But even more hilarious was Gracie’s subsequent admission to MMAFighting that Diaz’s positive test was “not a shocker.”
“His DNA is THC, let’s face it,” said Gracie. “No one is surprised by that. I’m disappointed by it. It’s just a distraction. It sucks. I don’t want any distractions. The guy is such a brilliant fighter. I’d rather be talking about how skilled he is.”
Look, I’m not trying to vilify Diaz for his marijuana usage, especially in light of the fact that he was training to fight a juiced-up version of the G.O.A.T at the time. Marijuana shouldn’t be illegal, MMA fighters should be allowed to use it recreationally if it helps relieve pain, blah blah blah, etc. But can we just drop it with the act already? The NSAC needed a clean sample from Diaz in order to license him, which he could not provide, so he did what he had to do in order to keep the fight on. Just like the NSAC did when they found out Silva was on PED’s a month out from his fight, because you best believe they knew it prior to UFC 183.
Diaz didn’t stop smoking for a few days, then pass a test, then go back to smoking. That is not how marijuana metabolites are stored in the body, and everyone knows it. There is no way in Hell that Diaz gave enough fucks to try and hide his usage prior to UFC 183 — I offer the video at the top of this article as proof of this — so please, Anderson, Nick, Bob, Francisco, can we stop throwing our hands in the air and pleading ignorance on all this? The Ultimate Roided Fucking Killers League is the future of this sport. Let’s embrace the crazy.
Veteran MMA referee Josh Rosenthal is set for release this March after spending 19 months in federal prison, according to MMAJunkie.com.
As you may recall, Rosenthal was sentenced to 37 months back in July 2013 after federal agents seized, get this, over 1,000 marijuana plants valued at around $6 million, a year earlier at an Oakland, California warehouse owned by Rosenthal.
More on this story after the jump.
(Photo via MMANuts.)
By CP Reader Bryan Adelman
Ah, Josh, we missed you.
Veteran MMA referee Josh Rosenthal is set for release this March after spending 19 months in federal prison, according to MMAJunkie.com.
As you may recall, Rosenthal was sentenced to 37 months back in July 2013 after federal agents seized, get this, over 1,000 marijuana plants valued at around $6 million, a year earlier at an Oakland, California warehouse owned by Rosenthal.
At last, we can finally explain that seductive, hypnoticstare he always seemed to bring with him to the ring. Of course, Rosenthal is best known for his, shall we say, laid-back approach to refereeing.
Case in point, the incredibly late Chris Weidman – Mark Munoz stoppage, where Rosenthal found the time to step in only after Munoz absorbed an additional seven bludgeons than were needed (Yes, I counted them). Evidently, Rosenthal felt it wasn’t appropriate to jump in until Weidman had gone full-Donny Donowitz on the unconscious Munoz.
At the same time, however, he was equally beloved precisely because of that reluctance.
Take the hellacious beating Shane Carwin gave Brock Lesnar back at UFC 116. In the hands of a less competent (READ: merciful) referee, “The Engineer” would’ve been the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion and history would’ve briefly skewed onto an alternate path, until being subsequently corrected by a violent, Cain Velasquez ass-beating.
But, alas, it was not to be. We all know the story by now: Lesnar regrouped and took Carwin’s soul in the second round.
BUT WERE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? DID THE BLOODSHED NOT QUENCH THE GREAT OLD ONES’ THIRST?
I digress.
It’s unclear where Rosenthal goes from here. His referee license expired at the time of his sentencing and it seems unlikely he’ll be allowed to ref any high-profile fights, should he even attempt to get relicensed. Currently, Rosenthal is staying at a Residential Drug Abuse Program halfway house, the completion of which will justify his early release.
In a time where Kim Winslow still has a job, Herb Dean is getting punched in the Octagon, and “Big” John McCarthy is getting his ass kicked at a Costco, for Christ’s sake, the world needs Josh Rosenthal to come and set the world right again.
And before you condemn the man, before you call him a dirty, drug-dealing embarrassment to the sport, consider this: In the span of about seven years, Josh Rosenthal had the opportunity to watch some of the greatest fights first-hand and take part in a six million dollar marijuana empire. What have you been doing with your life?
Glad to have you back, Josh, you big, bald, beautiful bastard.
There’s really no way to beat around the bush here, so let’s get right to it. Last night, it was revealed that Anderson Silva tested positive for two types of anabolic steroids in an out-of-competition drug test given on January 9th. His UFC 183 opponent, Nick Diaz, also tested positive for marijuana metabolites (AGAIN), albeit in in his UFC 183 post-fight drug test.
Son. of. a. bitch.
Details after the jump.
Wow.
There’s really no way to beat around the bush here, so let’s get right to it. Last night, it was revealed that Anderson Silva tested positive for two types of anabolic steroids in an out-of-competition drug test given on January 9th. His UFC 183 opponent, Nick Diaz, also tested positive for marijuana metabolites (AGAIN), albeit in in his UFC 183 post-fight drug test.
Son. of. a. bitch.
According to an official statement released by the UFC last night, Silva tested positive for both Drostanolone and Androsterone just a little over a month out from his UFC 183 headliner
On February 3, 2015, the UFC organization was notified by the Nevada State Athletic Commission that Anderson Silva tested positive for Drostanolone metabolites on his Jan. 9 out of competition drug test. UFC’s understanding is that further testing will be conducted by the Commission to confirm these preliminary results.
Anderson Silva has been an amazing champion and a true ambassador of the sport of mixed martial arts and the UFC, in Brazil as well as around the world. UFC is disappointed to learn of these initial results.
The UFC has a strict, consistent policy against the use of any illegal and/or performance enhancing drugs, stimulants or masking agents by its athletes.
Likewise, the UFC released this statement on Diaz’s failed test:
The UFC has been notified by the Nevada State Athletic Commission that Nick Diaz has tested positive for marijuana metabolites following his fight with Anderson Silva at UFC 183 on Jan. 31 in Las Vegas, Nev. The UFC has a strict, consistent policy against the use of any illegal and/or performance enhancing drugs, stimulants or masking agents by our athletes. As a result of his positive test, Diaz has been informed that he has violated the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy and Promotional Agreement with Zuffa, LLC. The UFC organization will fully respect the Commission’s final decision relating to Diaz at a disciplinary hearing set for February 17.
I don’t even know what to say. This is unbelievable — the Silva thing, not the Diaz thing. If you didn’t see Diaz’s latest UFC run being cut short by a failed drug test, then I’ve got a bridge to sell you. But even with the evidence so stacked against Silva, I can’t even muster the strength or desire to express my outrage at the GOAT’s decision to tarnish his legacy for a one-off freakshow fight that he never needed to take in the first place. Nor can I feign my outrage at the UFC for releasing that laughably bullshit statement on the issue, or the Nevada State Athletic Commission for once again allowing a fight to take place over a month after one of the fighters was busted by a random drug test. Maybe I’ve just seen this bearded lady one too many times, so to speak, or maybe I’m just getting too old for this shit.
Of course, I imagine the Nevada State Athletic Commission owes us an explanation as to how Silva vs. Diaz was even allowed to happen given Silva’s pre-fight failure. I mean, cocaine is one thing (apparently), but how are they going to explain their latest glaring oversight this time?
Well according to NSAC Chairman Francisco Aguilar, they would have called the fight, but they didn’t get the results in time. Oh, what a world! (via MMAFighting):
I would have had no problem calling the fight once I had this result. Those are not acceptable substances. But at the very least, by doing this out-of-competition test, we found this. We wouldn’t have known had we not done the out-of-competition test.
Oh, and NSAC Director Bob Bennett has also chimed in, calling the turnover rate for these pre-fight drug tests “unacceptable.”
The time lapse is unacceptable. We’ve made arrangements with the lab to make sure we get the results within seven days and they are working hand in glove with us on this.
Oh, well thank God that’s all solved. I’m sure we won’t run into this exact same issue the next time a major UFC pay-per-view is in town.
Bennett’s statement on Silva’s test, as it was with Jones’, is obviously bullshit. Thinly-veiled bullshit. You mean to tell me that the NSAC has been in charge of these tests for as long as they have, and are just now taking the steps to ensure that their pre-fight drug test results arrive before the actual fight is happening? What’s the point of even doing pre-fight test if you don’t get the results back until after the fight is over? WILL SOMEONE, FOR ONCE, JUST ADMIT THAT OUR SPORT IS A FARCE AND STOP TALKING TO US LIKE WE’RE CHILDREN?!!
Among the critics of the NSAC’s blatant incompetence has been Dr. Johnny Benjamin, who took to Twitter to vent his frustrations last night.
And the real answer is simple, Jon. Because then the UFC would have had to cancel two of the biggest events of the year, losing themselves (and the NSAC) millions of dollars in the process.
For what it’s worth, Silva is claiming innocence in the matter. As his doctor, Marcio Tannure, recently told Band News Radio:
Anderson told me he’s disappointed, upset because he didn’t use steroids. He will ask for the confirmation test because he believes the only explanation is a contamination or a mistake from the lab. He told me: ‘I have an impeccable career history and I wouldn’t want to tarnish my image.’
Well, it’s too late for that, Andy.
Silva and Diaz are both expected to appear at a Feb. 17 commission meeting in Nevada. According to Aguilar, a full hearing for Silva is expected to take place at an NAC meeting in either March or April. We will have more on this story as details are made available, but for now, let’s all just pour ourselves a stiff drink and nod in agreement with all of this:
