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Retired UFC welterweight Nick Diaz is looking for his day in court.
Diaz's lawyer, Ross Goodman, on Tuesday filed suit against the Nevada State Athletic Commission seeking relief for his client against a temporary suspension the camp feels is unlawful.
The lawsuit was first reported by www.MMAFighting.com.
Diaz (27-8 MMA, 7-5 UFC) lost a unanimous decision to Condit (28-5 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in an interim welterweight title bout at UFC 143, which took place Feb. 4 in Las Vegas. He was placed under temporary suspension when a post-fight drug test revealed the presence of marijuana metabolites in his system.
Diaz's camp has attacked the merits of the NSAC's case from the beginning, suggesting that the marijuana metabolites that prompted his failed test aren't banned by the commission.
In a pair of responses to Diaz's positive test, Goodman argued that the commission had no legal basis to suspend Diaz for marijuana metabolites and stated Diaz had not violated statutes when he used the drug outside of competition. In the first response, the lawyer included an affidavit from Diaz that acknowledged he was a medical-marijuana patient in California and had ceased using the drug eight days prior to the fight.
That prompted an amended complaint from the NSAC that stated Diaz not only tested positive for marijuana but misled the commission by omitting that information on pre-fight medical paperwork.
Earlier this month, Goodman invoked a Nevada legislative statute that said the commission must rule on Diaz's case within 45 days of the temporary suspension – April 6 – or the Diaz camp would consider the state's complaint null and void.
Nevada deputy attorney Christopher Eccles responded that the statute applied only in cases in which "the public health, safety or welfare imperatively require emergency action." He noted that Diaz had not appeared at an NSAC hearing in which a temporary suspension was addressed and reminded Goodman that an agreement to produce Diaz's medical-marijuana card was in place. While that card has yet to be delivered to the commission, Goodman stands by his earlier claim and is now asking the Clark County District Court to rule as such.
NSAC officials were not immediately available for comment when contacted by MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
Earlier today, Diaz's brother Nate said on a UFC on FOX 3 conference call that Nick was not "really that interested in fighting." While that may be true, his legal team is proceeding in an effort for Diaz to avoid any NSAC punishment for his failed test.
