Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce
For most of a bumbling, badly run meeting before the California State Athletic Commission, Chael Sonnen looked like he was toast. Yes, he had brought a couple of highly regarded lawyers with him, and yes, he had a doctor who testified that he had prescribed Sonnen with testosterone to deal with hypogonadism. But rules are rules, and the members of the Commission, despite seeming at times like they didn’t know what their own rules were, appeared to be in general agreement that Sonnen had violated their rules by failing to properly disclose he was taking testosterone.
And then, in a surprising vote at the end of the Commission hearing, Sonnen got off easy: After the Commission members first deadlocked 2-2 when voting on whether to uphold Sonnen’s one-year suspension, they voted again on a measure to cut his suspension in half, to six months, and that measure passed, 3-1.
Call it a split decision victory for Sonnen, a Fight of the Night-quality performance by his lawyers, and a big loss for the California State Athletic Commission — and for everyone who wants the rules on performance-enhancing drugs to be upheld fairly and uniformly.