Nate Diaz lit a bit of a fuse at the UFC 202 post-fight press conference last August when he admitted to vaping cannabis right there in front of the media. But, Diaz said, it more than worked out for him in the end.
Diaz told Ariel Helwani on a special edition of The MMA Hour on Wednesday that even though USADA hit him with a public warning, he made money from the incident.
“It don’t matter,” Diaz said. “I banked out in the cannabis industry from it. … It was a good move and it was organic.”
After falling to McGregor by majority decision, Diaz showed up to the post-fight press conference, bruised and cut. A number of reporters noticed he was taking pulls from some kind of vape pen and Diaz was asked about it. Diaz admitted it was cannabis — cannabidiol oil (CBD) to be more specific. CBD can reduce pain and inflammation without the psychoactive effects of THC.
"It's CBD," Diaz said at the time. "It helps with the healing process and inflammation, stuff like that. So you want to get these for before and after the fights, training. It'll make your life a better place.”
CBD is still cannabis, though. And anything with cannabidiol metabolites is prohibited by USADA, the UFC’s anti-doping partner, in competition. At the time, that in-competition window ended six hours after the fight. Diaz was taking to the press within two hours of his bout with McGregor ending.
USADA didn’t suspend Diaz after an investigation, choosing to give him a public warning instead, because Diaz was under the impression that once his post-fight drug test was complete that the window for in-competition was up.
The rule has since been changed under the UFC’s anti-doping policy with USADA, beginning April 1. The in-competition window now closes after the completion of the post-fight drug test sample collection. If that sample isn’t collected within a reasonable amount of time, the in-competition window will close one hour after the fighter’s post-bout medical clearance.
Diaz’s case seemed to be a major influencer on why that rule was changed. That fact is not lost on Diaz.
“Yeah, they changed it,” Diaz said. “Compliments of your boy here. … Now we could do our thing. I’ve been a game changer. We just ain’t get no credit for it.”
Diaz and his brother Nick, who have become known for their open marijuana use for years (Nick Diaz has been suspended three times in Nevada for weed), recently went to the Cannabis Cup in California. Recreational marijuana is legal now in the Diaz brothers’ home state. And it seems like that has been a boon to both of their wallets.
Nate Diaz told Helwani that he has still been making money, even though he hasn’t fought since August. One of the reasons is his connection to the marijuana business.
“They tried to give me the cold shoulder and hide me out and let me die off,” Diaz said of the UFC. “But it’s all good because I'm not gonna die off. I’m still right here in the game. I’m still training harder than anybody. I still got people calling. The f*ckin’ cannabis industry is f*cking blowing money out of their mind over here.”
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