Team Paul denies Nate Diaz’s request to leave Texas: ‘Nothing is changing’

Nothing ever seems to be super straight forward or easy when it comes to the Diaz brothers fighting.

Nick and Nate Diaz are two of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts (MMA). The siblings also seem to be somewhat difficult to work with given their lack of activity over the past half-decade. We’re hopeful that things will change with Nate now that he’s no longer signed with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), but the younger Diaz brother is making some waves leading into his big money fight with YouTuber, Jake Paul, on Aug. 5, 2023, suggesting the event needs to change locations.

Nate Diaz vs. Jake Paul is set to go down inside American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The only problem with that? Diaz and Co. didn’t realize Texas has one of the few athletic commissions still drug testing for marijuana. There’s some amusing footage from the Diaz vs. Paul presser when Nate is first told about this little issue (watch it).

Now, after being denied a Therapeutic Use Exemption by the commission, Diaz announced on Twitter, “We gonna have to move states.”

He included a .gif meme of Homer Simpson disappearing into a cloud of weed smoke, which may imply the post is a joke? Apparently, though, it looked serious enough that Paul’s manager, Nakisa Bidarian, made his own statement late Saturday night to ease anyone’s paranoia. That came via his management company BAVAFA Sports’ Twitter account.

“Jake Paul vs Nate Diaz is in Dallas, Texas,” it read. “Nothing is changing in terms of location / venue. Saturday August 5, Paul vs. Diaz live on DAZN.”

It’s not surprising that Bidarian isn’t interested in moving the fight. It costs money to book American Airlines Arena and we’re sure there’s deposits down on a ton of other services being rendered in Texas. But, it is a bit hairy having one of the most famous weed smokers in all of combat sports competing in a state that is notoriously stupid with its marijuana restrictions.

A failed drug test from Diaz would result in a win over Paul being overturned and the possibility of a hefty financial fine. Historically, there’s no reason to be worried that the state would test Diaz earlier than fight night, lowering the chances a positive test could derail the whole fight.

But, when you have a guy who’s basically the spokesman for weed fighting in your jurisdiction, who knows what decisions might be made?

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