Some good news for Sean O’Malley and the Diaz Brothers came down in the form of a ruling made by the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Wednesday.
As the big fight week for UFC 264: Poirier vs. McGregor 3 winds down, with the big pay-per-view taking place this Saturday, July 10, 2021 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the NSAC made a significant change to their rules on one particular banned substance.
Marijuana.
It was announced by the NSAC on Wednesday that the commission will no longer punish fighters who test positive for marijuana in fights sanctioned by the state of Nevada.
This is similar to the rule changes that were implemented previously by both the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in the recent past.
It is worth noting, however, that the new rule regarding marijuana in Nevada goes into effect as of today, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, and is not retroactive, meaning previous positive tests will still be handled under the old policy.
With that in mind, for example, Gillian Robertson and Misha Cirkunov were recently suspended and fined for positive marijuana tests in Nevada for NSAC-sanctioned bouts under the UFC banner, and those ruling will remain upheld.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission will no longer punish fighters testing positive for marijuana.
Huge news for fighters competing in Nevada.
Similar rules that were adopted by the UFC and USADA regarding marijuana. #UFC #UFC264
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) July 7, 2021
Quick note on this — the rules go into effect as of today, July 7. Nothing is retroactive….
So both Gillian Robertson and Misha Cirkunov were suspended and fined for recent positive tests for marijuana in Nevada. Full details on that coming to @MMAFighting shortly.
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) July 7, 2021
