A Ray of Hope for Nick Diaz?

When the Nevada Athletic Commission handed down a five-year suspension to Nick Diaz in September for testing positive to marijuana after his UFC 183 bout against Anderson Silva, many considered it virtually a lifetime ban for the 32-year-old.

There were many confounding issues in Diaz's case. The most significant was that he was tested three times within a matter of hours. The two WADA-accredited tests showed Diaz below the legal limit for marijuana metabolites, while the middle test, by a non-WADA-certified lab, put Diaz at nearly five times the legal limit of 150 ng/mL.

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The NAC chose to acknowledge the one positive and the fact that Diaz has tested positive for marijuana in the past, and initially pursued a lifetime ban before settling on a five-year suspension.

At the time of the suspension, Diaz's legal council vowed to take further legal action, but it appears that instead of a judicial review, they are currently negotiating with the commission to possibly reduce the sanctions.

On Wednesday, Diaz indicated that their legal efforts are going well on Instagram, “Talks with the NV athletic commission are going well. We’re working hard with them to get this right.”

It turns out that we may not have seen the last of the Stockton, Calif., native as his fight continues to wage on outside of the cage.

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