Nate Diaz wanted his name cleared by the UFC and he has received his wish.
The MMA world was turned upside down when Diaz claimed he was out of UFC 244 due to his drug test having adverse findings. Diaz wasn’t thrilled when he was told it could be due to a tainted supplement as the Stockton native only takes natural food supplements and isn’t a meat-eater. Through a UFC statement, it was confirmed that the contaminated supplement in question was an organic, vegan, plant-based daily multivitamin. That means Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal is still on for Nov. 2.
UFC Execs Clear Nate Diaz’s Name
Diaz took to social media and demanded that his name be cleared by the UFC. The promotion’s chief business officer, Hunter Campbell, did just that (via MMAJunkie.com).
“I’m going to get a call that Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, these guys that I know because I know them in and out would never in a million years do this,” Campbell said Friday night. “They are going to find themselves (in this situation), they’re going to be branded a cheater and it will not only impact their career, but their legacy. That is the single worst thing in my opinion that you could do to somebody, and particularly as a fighter in this profession.”
Campbell went on to say that Diaz isn’t a cheater.
“Your legacy is what you do this for at the end of the day,” Campbell said. “The money is great and everything else is great, but you do this for your legacy and I don’t want us to ever be a part of anything that negatively affects someone’s legacy who did something unintentionally who did nothing wrong. Nate did nothing wrong. Nate is not a cheater. It’s literally that simple.”
The UFC VP of Athlete Health & Performance, Jeff Novitzky, also chimed in.
“This isn’t guesswork,” Novitzky said. “There’s nothing guesswork about the Nate Diaz case. It is as rock-solid evidence as I’ve ever seen in the history of my anti-doping career when it comes to a contaminant. To say he did anything wrong, you’d have to say, ‘You did something wrong by choosing a plant-based, vegan, organic multivitamin that said on the label they were lab tested.’ Somebody can say he did something wrong on that? It’s a shame if they would. The guy did nothing wrong.”
