UFC fan favorite Nick Diaz has been informed of a potential anti-doping violation by USADA after three “whereabouts failures” over the course of the past 12 months. Under the UFC’s partnership with USADA, fighters are required to notify USADA of their whereabouts at all times. This means that Diaz, who has beefed with USADA in the past for refusing to take random drug tests, has now been formally notified of a potential anti-doping violation.

The UFC has released a statement on the situation, which reads:

“The UFC organization has been notified that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Nick Diaz of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from Diaz’s alleged accumulation of three Whereabouts Failures within a 12-month period. Diaz, like all other UFC athletes, is enrolled in USADA’s UFC Registered Testing Pool and required to file accurate Whereabouts information in order to be located for out-of-competition, no-notice testing.

USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of Diaz’s case, who has been provisionally suspended pending the final resolution of this matter. Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full and fair legal process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed. Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.”

This comes on the heels of UFC President Dana White stating this week during an interview that he doesn’t believe Diaz will ever return to the Octagon again due to a lack of a desire to fight.

Only time will tell whether or not Diaz is handed a suspension for the potential anti-doping violation, after just recently completing his suspension for a marijuana drug testing failure that ultimately saw his 5 year suspension reduced.

Stay tuned for updates as they become available.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/30/2017