By Chad Cooper
Twitter @thechadcooper
On a day that UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture suffered a heart attack, Nate Diaz informed the world Thursday night via his Twitter account that he would not make his highly-anticipated fight against Jorge Masvidal next Saturday in NYC because of a failed drug test due to “elevated levels” from “some tainted supplements.”
The fight was scheduled to take place at UFC 244 on Saturday, Nov. 2, in Madison Square Garden in New York City. Winner was to receive UFC’s newest created mythical title, “BMF” or “Baddest Mother Fucker” championship.
California native Diaz, 34, has a record of 20-11 and is coming off a 3-year hiatus to beat Anthony Pettis in August by unanimous decision then called out Masvidal after the fight.
Masvidal, also 34, has seen a resurgence in his career with impressive consecutive KOs over Darren Till and previously undefeated Ben Askren.
According to ESPN sources, “Diaz tested positive for trace amounts of a prohibited selective androgen receptor module (SARM).”
Diaz, a known pot-head and self-proclaimed “West Coast Gangster,” also wrote, “I only take Whole Food or natural food supplements. I don’t even eat meat. So until UFC, Usada or whoever is FUCKING with me Fixes it, I won’t be competing.”
His opponent, Jorge Masvidal, also took to Twitter to say, “You not the baddest mofo in the game (i am) but you are one of the cleanest mofo’s @NateDiaz209 I’ll see you nov 2. I know your name is clean. I don’t need @usantidoping to tell me shit!”
ESPN also reported that USADA (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency) has not yet suspended the fight…So is this a work? Diaz has been outlandish for most of his career and has pulled stunts like this before. It is a good promo to grab headlines and sell the fight.
Has Diaz been smoking the good shit with Cheech & Chong like “Godfather OG,” “Chewdawg” or some of that “White Irish Cream?”
Or is this a cooked up storyline by the UFC brass to move this big fight away from the Canelo Alvarez-Sergey Kovalev WBO light heavyweight title match, which is also scheduled for the same night – Nov. 2?
Fellow UFC fighter Dustin Poirier responded with several tweets of his own including a “Fuck You.” Diaz, who also “pulled out” of a fight with Poirier in 2018, was taunted by Dustin in a video Thursday recorded by Poirier, who was in a hospital bed doped up on heavy pain meds after having surgery.
“You’re a bitch,” said Poirier. “A fake ass gangster.”
USADA has been around since 2000 and ever since the UFC partnered with USADA in 2015, MMA has suffered with loads of positive tests, suspensions and even fighters physically look different.
Wasn’t baseball more fun when Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire were hitting 80 home runs? Why yes, yes it was.
Should the UFC cut ties with Diaz? Yes, but they can’t afford too. They need gimmick fighters to sell subscriptions to ESPN+. I think the fight happens next Thursday
At least the UFC has Conor McGregor returning in January…YAWN.