#1 Nick Diaz
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Nick Diaz is a former Strikeforce and WEC Welterweight champion, steroid-free ninja and one of the most controversial fighters in our sport.
An extremely vocal campaigner for the use and worldwide legalisation of marijuana, Nick Diaz has appeared in several pro-cannabis adverts in popular culture including his recent partnership with a marijuana rolling paper brand - Futurola.
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Besides this, he and his brother Nate have launched their own ‘Diaz Bros Rolling Papers’.
Despite being widely regarded as one of the cleanest fighters on the planet as far as steroid usage is concerned, on the cannabis front, Nick has not been as disciplined. He has failed three drug tests over the course of his long and storied career.
Nick fought Takanori Gomi at Pride 33 in 2004, a back-and-forth matchup wherein he ended up submitting his opponent via Gogoplata. He failed the pre-fight drug test for the Gomi fight for marijuana metabolites. The next failure came at UFC 143 in 2012 against Carlos Condit.
Diaz lost the fight that was for the Interim-UFC Welterweight title as well as flunked the post-fight drug test, once again testing positive for marijuana. The third strike would come at UFC 183 in January of 2015, wherein Silva failed his tests for banned steroids and Diaz failed his test once again for the Mary Jane.
After his 3rd strike, the NSAC initially handed Diaz a 5-year suspension and a $165,000 fine; that was later reduced to 18 months and $100,000. After Diaz’s antics in the Silva fight, in particular, it isn’t all that surprising that the Stockton bad boy was fighting ‘High’, so to speak.
Regardless of whether these fighters ingested the substances knowingly or unknowingly, regardless of whether they took it for recreational purposes or in order to gain an unfair advantage over their opponents; they acted in an irresponsible manner.
The aforementioned MMA fighters put themselves as well as their opponents at risk by entering the cage intoxicated. If there’s one sport in the world where you absolutely do not want to compete intoxicated, it is our beloved sport of MMA.
Keep up with our combat tradition and write to me about fighters that you feel could’ve made the list.
Keep training and remember - MMA is a dangerous sport and if you wish to enter the cage whilst under influence, do so at your own risk.
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