Sonnen has confessed to and been open about his prior PED use after he tested positive for a banned substance two years ago. Post the test results, Sonned retired, but now he has come back from retirement by signing for UFC’s single biggest competitor – Bellator.
Sonnen, furthermore, has announced that he will is going to re enter the USADA drug – testing pool. When he did announce this, many fans thought that Sonnen was making a return to the UFC until they found out just last week that his career was now headed to Bellator and not the UFC.
Off the bat, it might seem like a fighter with a history of drug use would choose Bellator because maybe the drug policies were not as stringent, however, Sonnen himself addressed such speculation and confirmed that he would have to return all of his fight purse and pay an additional fine of $500,000 if he tested positive for any banned substances.
The UFC’s drug testing is carried out by the USADA, but Bellator depends on the state athletic commission for its drug testing.