New MMA fans will never truly realize or fathom how good  Nick Diaz was in his prime. Yes, they can see past videos, but it’s not the same as seeing them in real time. Today, he stands winless since 2012 and is punching some personal demons rather than fighters inside the cage. He has not fought since his 3rd-round TKO loss to Robbie Lawler at UFC 266 in 2021. But there was a time when the very mention of his name struck fear in the hearts of his opponents.

Despite being a legend with a cult status and loved universally by hardcore fans and fighters alike, the older Diaz brother’s road in MMA, particularly the UFC, was a long and winding one. And the worst thing that happened to him as a fighter was his livelihood being snatched away for five years. Yup. He wasn’t allowed to compete for five years.

On September 14, 2015, the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Diaz for the aforementioned 5 years. His suspension came as a result of a failed pre-fight dr-g test for marijuana metabolites at UFC 183 against Anderson Silva. This was the time when Diaz, then 31 years old, was also supposed to enter his prime.

Rogan’s admiration was visible from his recent conversation with Cody Tucker at Joe Rogan Experience #2317. He spoke about Diaz’s prime and how we missed it, “People missed Nick’s prime because Nick’s prime, a lot of it happened in Strike Force. Like people missed that, that’s when he was just like just so dominant.” Tucker chimed in, “So he came into the UFC kind of later in his career.” The UFC color commentator replied, “He started the UFC very early.  So he knocked out Robbie Lawler early in his career, had some great fights in his career, so he was in the UFC early on, but then left the UFC and went over to Strikeforce.”

Rogan explained previously how Nick Diaz changed the face of MMA and used his world-class cardio as an arsenal to defeat his opponents. “Nick Diaz changed the game, in terms of his elite cardio,” Rogan told ex-UFC star Josh Thomson once. Diaz was booked to face Vicente Luque at UFC 310 in December. However, he withdrew from UFC 310 as he was battling his inner demons.

His girlfriend, too, was concerned about his mental health and posted about the same on Instagram: “@nickdiaz209 Dr– addiction doesn’t last forever. You either find sobriety, or it takes your life.” But why did she take to social media like this? Well, there was a video doing the rounds on the internet in 2024 where a man resembling Nick Diaz was sitting beside a bush on the road, shirtless, and lighting something on fire.

The woman recording the video called the man out by saying, “Nick, what? Are you okay? Are you alright?” The MMA world was concerned for Diaz’s health. It was quite painful to see a legend like Nick Diaz encounter such a low point in his life. But fans and the community stood in solidarity with the Stockton fighter, just like how former women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey stood up for him when he had his prime years snatched away from him.

Ronda Rousey defended Nick Diaz

‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey has always been vocal about her support and love for the Diaz brothers. So, it was no surprise that she used her platform back then to speak against the ‘injustice’ Diaz endured at the hands of USADA. As per Bleacher Report, ‘Rowdy’ had declared, “Nick is a close friend of mine so of course I’m going to defend him but I see it’s so unfair if one person tests for steroids that could hurt a person and the other person smokes a plant that makes them happy and he gets suspended for five years… It’s not fair.”

More recently, Georges St-Pierre, stepped in to offer help in light of his troubling mental health concerns. “If I can somehow help him [Diaz] to make money in a way that we could do something together to promote something for the fans, and then everybody will be a winner,” St Pierre told Deeper Into the Cage in a recent interview.  However, it seems like the problems have not left the Stockton natives’ side yet, since he was recently involved in an altercation at Hyde, a nightclub in Bellagio in Las Vegas.

With his problems with addiction and a downward spiral, the fight community is watching with bated breath to see the ‘Stockton Slugger’ get healthy again. What do you think of the five-year suspension meted out to the older Diaz brother? Do you think it was fair? Let us know in the comments below.