ProphetFighting

I don’t like the drugs, but the drugs like me: Diaz, Guillard in trouble

As we noted awhile back, Nick Diaz tested positive for marijuana use after his fight of the year caliber matchup with Takanori Gomi at PRIDE 33 in Las Vegas. Things didn’t get any better for Diaz during his Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing on the test–as expected he was suspended 6 months retroactive to the date of the fight and fined $3000. The bad news was his impressive submission win using a gogoplata was all for naught as the NSAC changed the result of the bout to a “no contest”. Seems that the level of marijuana in Diaz’s blood was so high–175 mg. with 50 mg. or higher indicating a positive result–that NSAC chairman Dr. Tony Alamo speculated that the fighter was stoned to the point that he didn’t feel the punches:

Also, the commission changed the outcome of a Feb. 24 mixed martial arts bout between Nick Diaz and Takanori Gomi at the Thomas & Mack Center to a no decision. Diaz had won the bout via a gogoplata submission but tested positive for the active ingredient in marijuana afterward.

Because the concentration of marijuana was so high — it was 175 nanograms, and the commission considers 50 nanograms positive — chairman Dr. Tony Alamo said he suspected it inoculated Diaz against the power of Gomi’s punches.

“I think perhaps you didn’t feel the punches,” Alamo said.

Diaz was suspended for six months and fined $3,000.

Diaz owned the situation, essentially admitting that he burnt some tree the night before the fight but insists that he wasn’t stoned during the bout. Unfortunately, the NSAC isn’t like traffic court where they’ll throw you a bone if you cop to an offense. He might have been better off using the “contact high” defense used by Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ross Rebagliati–essentially saying that he had been rolling with some heshers and their use of the sticky green caused him to test positive. To his credit, Diaz did the responsible thing but that doesn’t change the fact that his win over Gomi is now a “no contest”.

I certainly don’t have any issue with the NSAC suspending and fining Diaz. My issue is with the assertion that the marajuana is a “performance enhancing drug” justifying the change in the decision of the fight. While I’m not a doctor like Chairman Alamo, I have known plenty of stoners. Were it true that all it takes is a little gangja to render one invulnerable to punches from a professional fighter, burnouts all over the world would be duking it out everytime they hit the bong. Yet I’ve never once seen a pothead get into a fight–they’re not as a group particularly tough, and especially when under the influence of their favorite herb. Furthermore, all you need to do is roll the tape of that war to invalidate Dr. Alamo’s theory–Diaz came to fight, and kept coming despite a nasty cut. This is in diametric opposition to the behavior of a guy who’d just blown a bowl–he wouldn’t be in any mood to exchange with a badass Japanese fighter, particularly faced with the adversity of a severe cut. The average pothead would have wanted to hit the drive-thru at Del Taco before retiring to his suite at the Mandalay Bay to watch some Scooby Doo re-runs.

In fact, a comparison to the stoner’s favorite cartoon series is instructive in this situation–just imagine that Shaggy was on the other side of the ring from Gomi that night. The Wikpedia entry on Shaggy is helpful in this regard:

Both Shaggy and Scooby-Doo have nearly insatiable appetites,[4] as well as tendencies towards goofing off and cowardice. Due to these similarities, Shaggy typically treats Scooby as a normal person rather than his pet. Shaggy uses his catch phrase “Zoinks!” whenever he’s surprised or scared, which is frequently.

Although usually considered a coward, Shaggy often proves useful in ferreting out the “monsters” and “ghosts” that are usually at the heart of the gang’s mysteries (sometimes by reluctantly acting as “live bait” for a trap), and providing a necessary distraction for their eventual capture. Shaggy also has athletic, disguise, and ventriloquism skills which often help the gang.

Clearly Diaz wasn’t stoned during the fight, as he showed neither requisite tendency toward “goofing off” or “cowardice”. Furthermore, no mention is made of Shaggy’s martial arts skills–and you need a significant level of skill to pull off a gogoplata submission. Shaggy would have just yelled “Zoinks!” and run out of the Thomas and Mack Center. Had he tricked Gomi in some manner–by dressing Scooby up as a pregnant woman or by using his “ventriloquism skills” for example–I might buy Dr. Alamo’s argument.

Historically the folks on the NSAC are pretty quick on the uptake, particularly in their knowledge of the fight game. And I’ve up to this point had nothing but respect for Dr. Alamo. Still, he’s dead wrong on this and apparently oblivious to the effects of marijuana on a fighter and has demonstrated a profound lack of knowledge of cartoons.

At least Gomi won his fight–also caught red handed…er…”yellow urined?” for drug use was Louisiana native Melvin Guillard who became the first MMA fighter in the brief history of Nevada’s oversight of the sport to test positive for cocaine use. This demonstrates the conundrum at work here–even if Diaz had been stoned during the fight he put himself at a disadvantage, fought with great courage and toughness, and pulled out an improbable win. In the process, he and Gomi put on one of the best MMA fights in the past several years. Guillard was tweaking on cocaine heading into his fight at the last UFC Fight Night against Joe “Daddy” Stevenson–something that would have given him a competitive advantage–and all it got him was a one way trip to “Queer Street” in under a half minute.

Despite all of the excitement generated by MMA fighters under the influence of illicit drugs, the highlight of the 4/10/07 NSAC hearings had to be the appearance of the irrepressible Roger Mayweather. More about that in the next post…

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