Nate Diaz outlines how he got USADA to bow down after UFC 244 drug test fiasco

NEW YORK – On the cusp of UFC 244 fight week, the MMA community was hit with a major scare when one half of the main event was flagged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

And of all people, it was Nate Diaz, who’s known for his stance against performance enhancing drugs, which is why the whole situation turned into a frenzy.

All of a sudden late last week, his main event “BMF” title fight vs. Jorge Masvidal (34-13 MMA, 11-6 UFC) was in jeopardy of happening this Saturday, but it was Diaz (20-11 MMA, 15-9 UFC) who notified the masses of the failed drug test, despite being told by the powers that be to keep quiet. Diaz tested positive for LGD-4033, or Ligandrol, which was the result of a tainted supplement.

He wasn’t about to have his name tarnished for something he didn’t do. Speaking to MMA Junkie and other reporters Thursday at UFC 244 media day, Diaz explained how it all went down.

“This is warfare,” Diaz said. “For one, they called me telling me I was on (expletive). They’re telling me all this ‘you’re on drugs’ (expletive), and I’m like, ‘Hold up, no I’m not on drugs, so fix your tests.’ You know what I’m saying? So I continued to take my supplements, which are Whole Foods supplements. I only eat out the garden, you know what I’m saying.”

Diaz decided to take matters into his own hands by going public, so that he wasn’t the only one dealing with the stress that comes with the accusation. After all, if he’d have withdrawn from the big headliner, the UFC and Masvidal would be equally affected.

“Then when they do that, I’m like, ‘You’re (expletive) up my whole (expletive), what I believe in, and it’s making me lose sleep at night.’ So I’m like, ‘You know what? This is war, and this ain’t fair,’” Diaz said. “I’m not sleeping; the UFC’s sleeping. Jorge Masvidal is sleeping. I’m like, ‘How about (expletive) all you guys, ain’t no one sleeping. Fights off. Now no one can sleep,’ and I was in bed smiling. It evened things out a little bit, and it’s what’s real.”

It turned out that Diaz’s failed drug test was traced back to a plant-based multivitamin Diaz takes. Jeff Novitzky, the UFC VP of athlete health and performance, said Diaz would have to take 10,000 capsules of the multivitamin to gain any kind of performance-enhancing benefit.

And a few days after his initial tweet, Diaz was cleared.

“Now look, they flipped their (expletive), got it together and there was nothing wrong in the first place, so why did you guys try and (expletive) with me to begin with?” Diaz said.