LAS VEGAS, NV - SEPTEMBER 12: Floyd Mayweather Jr. smiles during a post-fight news conference at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino after he retained his WBC/WBA welterweight titles in a unanimous-decision victory over Andre Berto on September 12, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) LAS VEGAS, NV - SEPTEMBER 12: Comedian Katt Williams arrives at the VIP Pre-Fight Party for 'High Stakes: Mayweather v. Berto' presented by Showtime at MGM Grand Garden Arena on September 12, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for Showtime) LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JANUARY 29: Nick Diaz poses for photos during the UFC 183 Ultimate Media Day at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino on January 29, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Bad situations can often create strange bedfellows as Nick Diaz is finding out. Boxing's pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather and outspoken comedian Katt Williams are the latest people to step to his defense after the UFC fighter was suspended for five years for allegedly testing positive for marijuana in the state of Nevada.
Mayweather, who just recently retired following his 49th professional win, didn't have much to say about the Diaz situation, but his reaction was all that really mattered.
When Mayweather's uncle Jeff informed him of the five-year suspension levied against Diaz for his third infraction for testing positive for marijuana in Nevada, the boisterous boxing champion looked stunned.
"Huh?" a perplexed Mayweather responded after hearing about the suspension. "Man, let that man smoke weed and enjoy his life!"
Mayweather's statement ended with that brief comment, but Williams had much more to say when TMZ.com caught up with him outside the LAX airport in Los Angeles.
Williams is no stranger to controversy, but when it came to Diaz having his livelihood taken away for five years after getting busted for marijuana for the third time in Nevada, he brought up some valid points in defending the embattled UFC welterweight.
"It's so extreme considering what the facts are," Williams said. "This was not a rule to catch somebody eating too many Twinkies. This was supposed to be about performance-enhancing drugs. It's something that you did that would give you an advantage over who you were competing against. Marijuana doesn't work like that."
Williams went on to explain that marijuana might do a lot of things, but enhancing performance isn't one of them.
He looks at marijuana as medicine, which Diaz is legally allowed to use in his home state of California, but one that he can't imbibe in the lead up to his fights in the UFC.
"The easiest UFC fighter for you to fight would be somebody smoking weed. His attention isn't there, he's a little off, he's just relaxed, that's all," Williams said. "Eventually, we're going to have to figure out what medical marijuana really means and try to figure out why we would be trying to take somebody away from their living for five years. (What) if they took aspirin everyday?"
Diaz remains on suspension from the Nevada Athletic Commission although the fighter and his attorney Lucas Middlebrook have said that they will file an appeal with the state after the outcome of the recent hearing.
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