Nick Diaz found himself in hot water on the evening of May 24, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada, after he was allegedly involved in a domestic violence dispute. The Stockton scrapper was subsequently arrested and, according to the report, combative with police.
Judging by bodycam footage embedded in the video player above, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
In the video, Diaz can be seen cooperating with police officers, who entered the Stockton slugger’s home with their guns drawn before handcuffing him. Once inside the patrol car, things did get a bit testy after Diaz — who kept pleading his innocence — tried to maneuver the restraints in a more comfortable position. That didn’t sit too well with officers, who threatened to put a spit mask on him, embarrassing him in the process.
A few moments later, supervising officer Bryce Martinez could be seen lecturing two other officers by telling them they needed to control the suspect by any means necessary, including physical violence. Prior to the talk, one officer could be heard saying to turn the camera off.
Martinez, however, left his on.
“Listen to me real quick,” Martinez said (as transcribed MMAjunkie). “I need you to control your suspects. If they’re talking (expletive), if you need to fricken’ take them to jail. If you need to hobble them, if you need to whoop their (expletive) ass, you whoop their ass. You hear me? I need you to hold and take them,” he added “Make those decisions for me. I cannot be making them for you, Okay? Good talk.”
Diaz — who was charged with felony domestic battery — was eventually released on $18,000 bail. After the District Attorney declined to move forward, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight contender was cleared of all charges.
“We are grateful that the District Attorney’s office was fair and thoughtful in reviewing this case based on the evidence and making the decision to dismiss this matter particularly in light of the Grand Jury’s decision finding probable cause was lacking,” attorney Ross Goodman said.
As a result, Diaz was cleared to pursue his mixed martial arts (MMA) career, though his return date is still up in the air after a proposed fight between he and Jorge Masvidal — which was in talks to go down at UFC 235 on March 2, 2019 — fell through.
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