The petition to lift the Nevada State Athletic Commission ban on Nick Diaz reached its requisite 100,000 signatures prior to its October 16, 2015 deadline. The White House will now review it and may issue a response.
The petition needed a last minute push as it was short 18,000 signatures as of October 13th. Articles on MMA web sites as well as pleas from fans on social media helped the effort.
Per the Whitehouse.gov web site “most” responses to petitions will come from Administration officials although President Obama may respond directly from time to time. But, don’t expect POTUS to chime in on this petition.
The petition actually is over 108,000 signatures as of Wednesday morning.
Payout Perspective:
The petition push was a great grassroots effort that showed that the MMA community can rally behind something. Realistically, the Administration official responding will likely review the petition and defer to the state on the Diaz suspension. As we wrote previously, the White House will not overturn the decision. It’s a matter of federal versus state governance and even if this was something of more political importance, the White House would not intervene. What could happen is that Nevada politicians could pick up on this momentum in order to sway public appeal and force change in rules for the commission. With 108,000 joining in (and even a tweet from Cher), some Nevada politician could use this to affect change.
Thanks for posting this Jason. This is a very important issue, especially for the fighters. I also agree this is of political importance, as few petitions reach the 100K signatures to warrant even mere reflection.
Let’s hope that mainstream media takes notice and pushes this issue into the spotlight. It is of the utmost importance that fighters get their “day” in court and in a fair manner. What happened in Diaz’s hearing was nothing short of a witch hunt and in a just society, this should not stand.
#FREENICKDIAZ is a rallying cry, not for Diaz, but for every fighter that puts on the 8 oz gloves and put their life on the line for us fans, yet face this type of injustice in return.
People don’t seem to grasp the real issue here. Nick is depressed. His only means of forgetting about his depression is the green devil. He’s obviously hooked on this poison. No one cares about Nick’s problems, apparently. This petition trend is starting to get annoying.
nick diaz is an angry individual always smoking mar. and very unprofessional. past his prime should stick to coaching and stop picking fights outside of the ring. watched mma since early 90’s. have no sympathy for him.