The fall of Nick Diaz
It is said that your life is measured by how many uncomfortable conversations you've had. But these conversations, before anything else, need to be necessary.
It seems like former Strikeforce Welterweight champion and current expert in crafting out legendary fights, Nick Diaz, has been consistently finding comfort amidst such uncomfortable situations.
Undoubtedly, the man has a big mouth on him which has got him in trouble before, but a five-year ban for testing positive for marijuana has to be the absolute worst punishment that could be laid on any athlete in any given sport.
A Nick Diaz fight is a thing of beauty, as he repeatedly calls his opponent a "bitch" and does not shy away from doing so for all five rounds if he has to. Trash talking and looking to gain the mental edge over his opponent are a huge part of his game.
As mentioned by Sun Tzu in his timeless "Art of War" and Miyamoto Musashi in the equally trippy and eye-opening "Book of Five Rings", strategy is not confined to the physical aspect of the game.
Just because a person is not sensitive to the mental aspect of the game does not mean that those tricks and gestures wouldn't work on him. Diaz is obviously one of the top trash talkers in the history of MMA and, as aptly put by Matt Serra, the funniest unintentional comedian on the face of the earth.
People's perception of Diaz may be wildly contrasting, but he never fails to make a strong first impression. That's because Diaz stands proud of his beliefs, especially regarding recreational marijuana use.
He has made it obvious in the past that he will not be compromising his values or alter what he truly believes, to entertain and flatter the bureaucrats who pretend to know what's really going on without any scientific basis to back up their cruel sentence. With a devastating five-year ban, you'd at least expect it to be on extremely rational and justifiable grounds.
For people who have actually followed Diaz's career from the get go, it becomes even more shocking to know that a lifetime ban was very much on the table before they changed their mind. And to top it off, more than a hundred thousand dollars of his earnings was levied as a fine.
It is even more astounding to see that the NSAC has somehow successfully convinced a significant portion of the population that they have "spared" Diaz by not slapping him with a lifetime ban.
To say that the NSAC has abused its power in tyrannical fashion would be an understatement.
Although MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world, it has still not been able to muster a proper fighter's union to negotiate for their services to the promotions. After all, the fighters are employees who need to have laws in place to protect them from promotions who wouldn't think twice before exploiting them.
But this incident proves that we are far from such a just work environment for the fighters.