We talked about the ‘cursed match’ at tonight’s Strikeforce show that has seen three different opponents for Luke Stewart–Shonie Carter, Joe Riggs and Drew Fickett–pull out for one reason or another. Joe Riggs’ deal is the toughest as Bloody Elbow reports today. Here’s what happened….Riggs did what he was supposed to do to get himself cleared to fight in California, part of which is to detail any medication he’s been taking to the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC). He’s by all accounts a stand up guy, so he answers truthfully and completely–and in doing so includes a pain reliever that he’d been prescribed by his doctor. Keep in mind that this is a *real* doctor, and not a shaman or whatever kind of doctor that Nick Diaz gets to prescribe medical marijuana for Attention Deficit Disorder.

So Riggs answers truthfully, despite the fact that its been several days and is probably all out of his system. And what happens next? The CSAC refuses to give him his medical clearance *and* won’t test him to see if he’s clean or not. Or, as Kid Nate at Bloody Elbow so succinctly noted:

So you see, if a fighter tells the CSAC about prescription drugs he’s taking, they won’t license him to fight. And they won’t test the fighter so he can prove the drugs aren’t in his system

Riggs could have easily kept mum about his prescription meds, and there’s a good chance he’d have sailed through testing and be fighting tonight. Instead, he wanted to be honest about it and he gets screwed. The CSAC has the right to do this, of course, but their unwillingness to allow him to test clean is absurd.

So why won’t the CSAC test Riggs? Because he’s not licensed in the state and they claim they don’t have jurisdiction. And why isn’t he licensed? Because he was honest on his medical disclosure form and they refused to license him.

It’s one thing to pull this sort of shenanigans with Nick Diaz, who unfortunately sets him up for this kind of abuse due to his outspoken fondness for the leafy green. It’s another entirely to pull it with Riggs, who is as likable a fighter as you’ll find. He’s just a guy who wants to show up and fight, and he deserves better than this. He might be an innocent bystander in the CSAC’s on-going feud with EliteXC’s Gary Shaw–since Strikeforce has promoted shows with EliteXC they may be fair game as well.

Another Cursed Match: Carter, Riggs, Fickett all out @ Bloody Elbow