High Times: Why Nick Diaz Should Not Be Released By UFC, Zuffa

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Poor Carlos Condit. Despite climbing his way up the ranks, executing a masterful gameplan in a thrilling title fight, and claiming the UFC Interim Welterweight Championship, the only thing the mixed martial arts world can talk about is Nick Diaz. And in a sense, that's exactly why the UFC can't afford to let him go.

It takes a special kind of fighter to arrest the public's interest after losing the biggest fight of his life. It takes another kind to have the MMA media hanging on every breaking event that surrounds him, especially when he's known for his mystique. Where Condit's bland, "I'm just so happy to be here" personality leaves him ignored, Diaz and his vigorous distain for rules and common sense has fans, promoters, and fighters alike wondering where this amazing circus will end.

But now that Diaz has tested positive for marijuana, some are saying that this may mark the stopping point for Diaz's career. Dana White's succinct note of disapproval aside, Keith Kizer and the Nevada State Athletic Commission could fine Diaz a massive amount of money and suspend him for entirely too long. Some MMA pundits like Bloody Elbow's Tim Burke say that Diaz should just be released by the UFC altogether:

If Dana White has any sense, he will cut ties with Diaz once and for all. White loves to say that MMA will become the biggest sport in the world one day. He's not going to get there any time soon by continually enabling fighters that can't follow simple rules, fighters that actually flaunt their ability to get around those rules beforehand. Unfortunately, the anti-hero has sunk his hooks into the hearts of fans with money in their wallet, and the mighty dollar rules all when it comes to the UFC. You'll see Nick Diaz in the [Octagon] in 2013. And people will still care. And that's pathetic.

Emphasis mine.

Ironically, Burke counters his original argument with the raw truth. At this point, Nick Diaz seems like he'll continue becoming a superstar in spite of himself and his camp. Dana White knows it. Cesar Gracie knows it. Georges St. Pierre is counting on it, stating that he doesn't even need the legit UFC welterweight strap to make a fight with Diaz a major blockbuster event.

Simply put, the UFC is big on publicity and short on superstars. Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Cro Cop, and B.J. Penn have all left the sport in some capacity. Jon Jones is still just breaking into top draw status, while Anderson Silva, Junior dos Santos, and Jose Aldo are only going to sell out arenas in Brazil. Passing up the chance to make Diaz a pay-per-view star just to hold up some "simple rules" is something the UFC can't (and probably won't) do. Especially not when the charge against Diaz is much less damning than the all-too-common steroids problem.

Perhaps Matt Saccaro says it best at Bleacher Report:

First, Diaz was already a sort of martyr for judging reform in MMA. Legions of fans thought he really beat Carlos Condit at UFC 143; the bad decision hurt Diaz's pride but it further fed into the Nick Diaz myth.

Now that Diaz has been ousted (and will likely be suspended) for marijuana use a second time, it will benefit his reputation.

Marijuana is an extremely popular drug in the Unites States and now Diaz will become a martyr for its legalization and recreational use. This will expand his status as a cult icon and an anti-hero to a significant degree; he will transcend simply being a fighter and will stand for so much more.

Not many MMA fans are reacting to Diaz's marijuana use with outrage. On the contrary, the outrage seems to be that the NSAC's intervention will cancel the almost-rematch between him and Condit. If worse comes to worse, and Nick Diaz sits out a year on top of a hefty fine, the UFC would be smart to retain him on contract and set him up against Condit or Georges St. Pierre upon his return — any other course of action is just leaving money on the table.

[McKinley Noble is a former staff editor at GamePro and an MMA conspiracy theorist. Follow his Twitter account for crazy talk, 1990s movie references, and general weirdness. Or you could just stalk him on Google.]