(Sonnen, seen here on the day of his alleged surgery. Take it away, James… / Photo via Getty)
From malicious food-poisoning to cracked skulls, MMA fighters have made some mighty questionable post-loss excuses over the years. But noted UFC bullshitter Chael Sonnen has just taken the art of the excuse to bizarre new depths. From a new report on TSN.ca:
UFC fighter Chael Sonnen had several inches of his colon removed during emergency surgery on Nov. 15 — one day before his first-round loss to Rashad Evans at UFC 167. Sonnen confirmed that he had the procedure during a taping of TSN’s Off The Record on Wednesday, after host Michael Landsberg revealed that a source told him about it.
“It’s a little bit of a surprise that you had that information,” replied Sonnen when asked whether he had undergone surgery.
Despite the medical emergency, Sonnen did not withdraw from the scheduled matchup in Las Vegas on Nov. 16 and was defeated in a first-round TKO.
“When I sign a contract to fight, I’m agreeing to fight a guy on a certain day at a certain time and in a certain venue,” he continued. “It’s my job to feel good when I go out and do it and if I don’t that may play a hand in the fight.”
In other words, Sonnen may have gotten his ass kicked that night, but he’s basically a hero for still showing up even though he was half-sedated with an asshole full of gauze. I mean, he doesn’t want to make excuses or anything, but undergoing emergency colon surgery on weigh-in day “may play a hand” in how he performed. Come on, son — like any athletic commission would let that fly. I’m giving this story a therockeyeroll.gif, all day long.
God, I hope we’re not being trolled here. Knowing Chael, this might be an elaborate setup to a joke about finding Frank Mir’s horseshoe. After all, Sonnen and Landsberg have some history together. If you’re up in Canada and get TSN, watch the full interview with Sonnen today at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT, and let us know how it goes.
UPDATE: Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director, Keith Kizer has called bullshit. “I checked with the UFC. They verified with Chael and his team that he did not have any surgery prior to the Rashad Evans fight. According to Chael, the interviewer asked him a question and Chael, coyly, didn’t answer him directly as the article clearly states, and the interviewer inferred that the answer to his question was in the affirmative.”