Ronda Rousey stood up to Nevada State Athletic Commission for suspending Nick Diaz for positive marijuana use saying, "there's no reason that we should be tested for weed."
"I'm sorry, but it's so not right for him to be suspended five years for marijuana," Rousey told reporters during a UFC press conference in Melbourne, Australia on Wednesday.
"I'm against testing for weed at all. It's not a performance enhancing drug. And it has nothing to do with competition. It's only tested for political reasons," she said.
Rousey's statement in defense of her friend came after NSAC's decision on Monday to suspend Diaz for half a decade after he was tested positive for marijuana for the third time in January before his fight with Anderson Silva.
"It shouldn't be involved at all. Nick is a really close and dear friend of mine so of course I'm going to defend him. It's so unfair."
Diaz, 32, just like many more athletes, even has a medical marijuana card in California for pain-relief and relaxation purposes.
"If one person tests for steroids, that could actually really hurt a person, and the other person smokes a plant that makes him happy, and he gets suspended for five years," Rousey continued. "Whereas a guy who could hurt someone so much that he could've died in there [and] he gets a slap on the wrist! It's not fair. It's not fair at all. It doesn't make me a bad person for saying it, I just can't believe it's not being said more."
In fact, athletes who are tested positive in steroids will have a much shorter suspension.
"Unless there's scientific proof that marijuana is a performance-enhancing drug that gives an unfair advantage, it should not be restricted," Rousey pointed out, ending her speech saying, "I think we should free Nick Diaz."
