LAS VEGAS, NV - JANUARY 31: (R-L) Nick Diaz taunts Anderson Silva in their middleweight bout during the UFC 183 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on January 31, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Nick Diaz and Ronda Rousey have been friends and training partners for years. Still, he never expected that she'd go to bat for him publicly the way she did after the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) handed down their strange five-year suspension on him for supposedly failing a drug test for marijuana metabolites.
"She didn't need to do that. I don't know if she caught heat for it . . . I hope she didn't," the former title challenger recently told TMZ Sports.
"But Ronda understands how I am. She's like me, only a girl. A prize fighter. She's a great friend."
Though Rousey and other fighters have spoken out against Diaz's punishment and the convoluted and inconsistent process that brought it about, he's currently still in a situation where he's unable to make a living in the profession he's worked since he was a teenager. The way Nevada went about testing and disciplining Diaz has even prompted officials from other state commissions to criticize them -- a rare occurence given that states usually respect one another's suspensions.
Diaz holds out hope that he may then be allowed to fight in other states. "I've been hearing other states' athletic commissions are angry about the ruling, so hopefully I'll be able to fight in those states," he continued.
Diaz went on to talk about how his whole life has been fighting, up to this point. Without being able to do it professionally because of Nevada's suspension, he honestly doesn't yet know what he can do do put food on his table.
"I held off on having kids and getting married so I could fight," he explained.
"I gave my life to this. I am a fighter. It's what I am. A lot of guys have to worry about what their wives and kids think, I don't. All my attention goes towards fighting, and now I don't know if I can fight. They've taken it away from me."
Now, the outspoken fighter from Stockton is left trying to figure out his next move. "It's upsetting," he admitted.
"I'm just trying to make ends meet."
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