(Sonnen illustration via celebbest.com)
Though it was originally reported that the indefinitely suspended Chael Sonnen would be able to re-apply for an MMA license after his current license expires on June 29th, California State Athletic Commission executive officer George Dodd contradicted that bit of information today, telling MMA Fighting that the soonest Sonnen can re-apply is May 2012:
“One of our rules, in our Title IV [of the California Code of Regulations], stipulates that you have to wait one year after an appeal of your suspension or revocation of license. And since he appealed this [on May 18, 2011], it’s one year from the day of denial.”
Wait, it gets worse:
“[Sonnen] is going to have to show that he’s done something to promote the sport, promote goodwill,” Dodd said. “He does a lot of good things already. He talks to kids and stuff like that about making right decisions. But he’s going to have to show that he’s making the right decisions as well. You can say it, but you have to make those decisions yourself.”
So basically, Uncle Chael is going to have to prove that he’s a good person? And rehabilitated? No wild lies or trash-talk for an entire year? Total nightmare. Theoretically, Sonnen could still compete outside of the U.S., in countries that lack athletic commissions — that is, if the UFC wants to continue doing business with him at all. But doing that means Sonnen would run the risk of getting blacklisted in the U.S. forever. On the other hand, Sonnen will need to find some way to support himself, especially now that he doesn’t have a realtor’s license either.
George Dodd also said that if Sonnen was re-licensed next year, he could still request a therapeutic use exemption for testosterone therapy, as long as he went through the proper channels:
“What would happen is he would…request it through the athletic commission. The commission would probably request that the medical advisory committee review it. The medical advisory committee would review it and then make a recommendation back to the commission whether or not to approve or disapprove.”
Serious question, for those of you who have knowledge about this sort of thing: Can a testosterone deficiency leave a person so weak that they can’t function normally in day to day life? Yesterday, Sonnen claimed he needed his bi-monthly TRT treatments for his “survival,” and his mom said that he wouldn’t be able to get out of bed in the morning without them. Is that bullshit or not?