Floyd Mayweather on Nick Diaz's ban: 'Let that man smoke weed, enjoy his life'
Nick Diaz has drawn plenty of support from his contemporaries in the sports and entertainment world after his shocking five-year suspension by the Nevada Athletic Commission after a positive drug test for marijuana metabolites.
The test was Diaz’s third positive test for marijuana in his career. And despite the drug being legal in various forms across America, the commission decided to drop the hammer on the 32-year-old Stockton, Calif., native.
UFC superstar Ronda Rousey came to the defense of her ‘dear friend’ during a recent media tour in Australia, saying, “If one person tests for steroids, that could actually really hurt a person, and the other person smokes a plant that makes him happy, and he gets suspended for five years! Whereas a guy who could hurt someone so much that he could’ve died in there [and] he gets a slap on the wrist! It’s not fair. It’s not fair at all.”
One fan was so incensed by the commission’s ruling that he started a petition on WhiteHouse.gov to have the ruling overturned. As of Tuesday at midnight, it has 51,000 of the 100,000 required signatures needed before it can be officially looked at.
But now one of Nevada’s most powerful athletes, Floyd 'Money' Mayweather, is offering his opinion on the Diaz ruling. And he’s plenty familiar with the Nevada Athletic Commission.
“Man, let that man smoke weed and enjoy his life,” Mayweather said.
(Warning: Accompanying video has strong language. Viewer discretion is advised.)
Mayweather, as most know by now, has a checkered past with domestic violence in the state of Nevada. So much so, in fact, that he served a 90-day jail sentence (he was out in two months) in 2012 in a misdemeanor domestic battery case.
Despite the visibility of Mayweather and his multiple domestic violence allegations, the NAC has never disciplined (or thoroughly questioned) Mayweather. Yet, this same commission felt the need to suspend Diaz for what will, essentially, be the rest of his career.
The surprised look on Mayweather’s face in the video really says it all.
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Ryan McKinnell is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports Cagewriter blog. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
