The atmosphere remains tense between St. Pierre (left) and Diaz (right) even after UFC 158. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
UFC 158, an event held on the 16th, is not over yet for Nick Diaz. The North American team, which lost the main fight of the event to the Canadian Georges St Pierre, announced he will file an appeal against the Quebec Athletic Commission for his performance on the show. The allegation is the existence of irregularities in the conduct of weighing and anti-doping tests.
According to the action taken by Diaz's team, the commission did not respect the UFC's weigh-in rule. The accusation is based on a video, released last Monday (25), in which the UFC's vice president of business and legal affairs, Michael Mersch, is shown saying that, because the local commission does not count decimals In weight values, athletes could weigh more than the welterweight category limit, 170 pounds (77,1 kg), as long as they did not weigh more than 171 pounds (77,56 kg).
On the “MMA Fighting” website, the person responsible for the Quebec Athletic Commission, Joyce Tremblay, confirmed that the entity does not count decimals in weigh-ins, but stated that no athlete exceeded the weight limits set out in their contracts.
The reaction from Diaz's legal counsel, Jonathan Tweedale, was almost immediate. Tweedale issued an official statement in which he declared that the March 16 event “was not conducted under the rules applicable to a UFC title fight.” Furthermore, he claimed that “the contracted weight for this fight was 170 pounds. 170.9 is not 170, anywhere in the world, for a title fight.” Finally, Jonathan still questioned the legitimacy of the anti-doping test applied to GSP.
“Other serious irregularities including, inter alia (among others), the failure of the Quebec Commission to supervise the provision of fighter samples in connection with testing for Prohibited Substances and Prohibited Methods (under sections 71.1 to 71.6 of the Regulations), will be included in an official appeal that will be made imminently. Under the circumstances, Mr. St-Pierre remains legally and ethically obliged to face Diaz at 77,11kg, or else vacate the belt in favor of those prepared to fight at welterweight,” he said.
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