As end of suspension nears, Nick Diaz say it’s “back where we left off”

Earlier this week, news surfaced that former Strikeforce welterweight champ and UFC welterweight title challenger Nick Diaz had accepted a one-year sanction after failing to appear for three mandated United States Anti-Doping Agency drug tests—a violation of the agency’s “UFC Whereabouts Policy”. This suspension is retroactive to April 19, 2017, which means that it will be over on April 19, 2018. After that date, Diaz will be free to begin competing in the UFC again, should he so choose.

USADA announced today that Nick Diaz, of Stockton, Calif., has accepted a one-year sanction for a violation of the UFC® Anti-Doping Policy resulting from three unsuccessful test attempts during a 12-month period,” a Monday USADA release on the matter read.

Like all UFC athletes, Diaz, 34, is a member of the UFC Registered Testing Pool and is therefore subject to certain Whereabouts responsibilities, which allow him to be located for out-of-competition testing. Diaz failed to be available for three tests at the locations provided in his Whereabouts Filings. The first two failures occurred in the second and third quarters of 2016, while the third occurred in the first quarter of 2017. Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, the accumulation of three Whereabouts Failures within a 12-month period constitutes an anti-doping policy violation.

Diaz’s one-year period of ineligibility began on April 19, 2017, the date on which his third Whereabouts Failure was declared against him. During his period of ineligibility, Diaz remained subject to no-advance-notice testing by USADA and did not accumulate any additional Whereabouts Failures. As such, Diaz will be eligible to return to competition upon the completion of his sanction on April 19, 2018.

While the elder Diaz brother’s desire to compete has been questioned in the past, a recent Instagram post seems to suggest it’s something he’s at least thinking about. In this post, Diaz can be seen with a blackened eye and his dukes up. The caption, meanwhile, reads “back where we left off,” and is punctuated by a bevy of emojis that could mean just about anything.

See it below:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhbEkFOjis3/

What do you think this cryptic Instagram post from Nick Diaz means? Do you think he’ll fight again? If he does, there’s at least one welterweight comping at the bit to fight him.

If @nickdiaz209 wants to fight I’d be down to welcome him back. We can smoke weed all week together and I’d still put these hands on him @ufc

— Platinum Mike Perry (@PlatinumPerry) April 10, 2018

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 4/11/2018.