Chael Sonnen Remains Suspended by the California State Athletic Commission

In an article last week, this writer broke the news that UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen had his fighter’s license suspended by the state of California. May 18 was the day of the hearing, and things did not go favorably for “Uncle C…

May 18 was the day of the hearing, and things did not go favorably for “Uncle Chael.”

ESPN’s Josh Gross kept fans up to date via his Twitter feed, and there were quite a few interesting developments. 

At the hearing, Sonnen confirmed rumors that the UFC asked him to coach opposite Michael Bisping on season 14 of the show. Sonnen said UFC would give him a job 18 days from now. “A once in a lifetime opportunity to be a coach on The Ultimate Fighter,” he confirmed.

Additionally, he clarified that if things panned out, the season finale would see Sonnen take on Bisping in a No. 1 contender fight for the middleweight title.

Bisping chimed in on the matter via his Twitter page, and despite Sonnen calling him out not too long ago, “The Count” actually showed sympathy for Sonnen:

“Gutted for chael sonnen, people make mistakes.  He paid his dues and should be allowed to continue with his career. Real shame for the guy.”

The British middleweight added “I did wanna fight him,as it would of been awesome, and a no1 contender matchup, but my own personal wants aside, I do truly feel for the guy.” 

The first shocking moment from the hearing came when Sonnen stated, “If I don’t get my license today I’m effectively retired. That came from the boss, Dana White.”

A visibly emotional Sonnen continued, “I worked for this chance my whole life. I don’t want to retire today.”

After hearing statements from the crowd—which included Sonnen’s mother—the commission passed a 4-1 motion made by State Athletic Commissioner Gene Hernandez to uphold Sonnen’s indefinite suspension.

Sonnen’s attorney, Steve Thompson, blamed the misunderstandings between the commission and Sonnen primarily on former manager Matt Linland. Thompson also played up how passionate the UFC was in giving Sonnen another chance, with a coaching position on TUF and a No. 1 contender fight on the line.

Sonnen stressed the fact that he needs testosterone therapy for his “survival,” and that he has the testosterone levels of a “93-year-old man.”

All arguments seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Sonnen cannot apply for another license in the state of California until June 29th of 2012, and is all but guaranteed to not get his suspension uplifted in the state of Nevada now.

Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer was one of the men who testified. He again reiterated his position that he never talked to Sonnen regarding the therapeutic exemption of testosterone replacement therapy. 

Neither the UFC nor Chael Sonnen has released an official statement on the matter yet, but this article will provide updates as they occur.

UPDATE: 5:24pm ET Michael Bisping’s Twitter comments about the matter have been added.  

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UFC 130 Video: Rampage Jackson Video Diary 1

UFC 130 takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 28.  After lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard both suffered injuries and were forced to withdraw from the card, the light heavyweight showdown between Quinton “Rampage” Jack…

UFC 130 takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 28.  After lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard both suffered injuries and were forced to withdraw from the card, the light heavyweight showdown between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Matt “Hammer” Hamill was elevated to main event status. 

In this video, Jackson is shown having problems sticking to his prescribed diet, and appears none too happy after being exposed for eating the wrong foods over the previous weekend. The video also introduces Jackson’s nutritionist, the woman in charge of making his meals leading up to the fight. Jackson is also seen clowning around and having fun with his staff, as he’s known to do. 

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The 10 Most Controversial Decisions in MMA History

“Don’t leave it to the judges,” is an endlessly repeated refrain inside the world of MMA. Those six words have been uttered by everyone from the freshest MMA fan to the UFC’s president Dana White.Often fans that have watched the fight from the comfort …

“Don’t leave it to the judges,” is an endlessly repeated refrain inside the world of MMA. Those six words have been uttered by everyone from the freshest MMA fan to the UFC’s president Dana White.

Often fans that have watched the fight from the comfort of their own homes have slapped their heads in wonder when the judges scorecards were read at the conclusion of a fight.

To paraphrase Bob Dylan, the times may be a-changin’ in MMA, more specifically with the UFC. UFC 131 will be the first UFC event that will allow the judges video monitors. Later this week, the Nevada State Athletic Commission will discuss allowing video monitors at UFC 130.

The judges are currently at a disadvantage to those viewing the fights at home. The judges, get one angle and can often miss the subtle (or not so subtle) nuances the at home viewer can easily see.

If judges are allowed monitors at every MMA event, the following controversial decisions  may have turned out different.

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Jake Ellenberger Feels Like He Can Beat Jake Shields

Jake Ellenberger has been making waves in the UFC ever since he first stepped foot inside the Octagon.In his first match, he was paired with former WEC champion Carlos Condit and dazzled with powerful right-hand punches, pushing the former champion to …

In his first match, he was paired with former WEC champion Carlos Condit and dazzled with powerful right-hand punches, pushing the former champion to the brink and narrowly losing a split decision.

Ellenberger has been very vocal about wanting to have a fight with Jake Shields. Shields fought Georges St-Pierre in the main event of the recent UFC 129. That night, Jake lost his first fight in over six years, and the match-up featured a vicious first round knockout of Sean Pierson by none other than Jake Ellenberger. The win was the fourth in a row from Jake. He shattered his hand in the bout, but immediately had surgery and now looks to fight top competition in the UFC.

Now, Ellenberger wants to fight Jake Shields next.  He stated, “If they do make that match and me and Jake get to fight, he’s not a hard guy to figure out. I feel like I can beat him right now. There’s a lot of things in the past that I wasn’t doing correctly. It was kind of a learning process for me. This sport still being so new, earlier in my career I loved to compete and I was making a little bit of money, but I don’t think I was as focused and disciplined as I am now. I’ve surrounded myself with such good people. Good coaching and training partners, guys that really believe in me.”

This could be a good match-up, but is Shields interested?  We will have to wait and see at this point.

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Not Looking Past UFC 132, Carlos Condit Craves All Welterweight Challenges

Carlos “Natural Born Killer” Condit aims to hit championship targets no matter what organization they are in. For the 27-year-old, stringing together four consecutive victories means ending Dong Hyun Kim’s five-fight win streak at UFC…

For the 27-year-old, stringing together four consecutive victories means ending Dong Hyun Kim’s five-fight win streak at UFC 132 on July 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Adding “Stun Gun” to an Octagon resume boasting wins over Jake Ellenberger, Rory MacDonald, and Dan Hardy is ideal for the former WEC Welterweight Champion, who intends to entrench himself atop one of the most storied divisions in the UFC. 

“It’s a tough match up for me. I definitely think it’s a good test,” Condit told ESPN’s Inside the Cage radio. “Dong Hyun Kim does what a lot of the top welterweights do: his game plan is to use his wrestling and his size and his strength to basically impose top control.”

The Greg Jackson-trained fighter returns to action after withdrawing from a scheduled February slug fest with Chris Lytle at UFC 127. Condit netted an extra $85,000 for a Fight of the Night versus MacDonald at UFC 115, $65,000 for knocking out Dan Hardy at UFC 120, and hopes his bout against Kim at UFC 132 can be his third consecutive incentive bonus. After all, prizefighting is about performance and Condit to make statements with his outings July 2 and beyond.

“I really feel like I’m in my prime. I think these next couple of years are going to help define my career and my legacy,” he said. “I’m looking to make a run and hopefully get that belt around my waist.”

Condit recently called out former two-division champion B.J. Penn, attempting to take on the names that make for action-packed, marquee fights that can build a career and define a legacy. Instead, he meets the Korean judoka, a stern yet unheralded opponent. Still, Kim fits well into Condit’s future plans.

“I was a little bit disappointed I didn’t get to fight B.J. Penn. A lot of the other top welterweights are either booked for fights or aren’t going to be ready in the time frame I’m trying to compete,” he admitted. “I think [Jake] Shields is definitely on the horizon for me. I definitely would like to get in there and try to avenge a loss. If I have a good showing against Kim, I imagine I’d get a title shot.”

A four-fight win streak—and a pre-requisite impressive showing against Kim—would place Condit in a contender spot for the UFC belt or near it, but that doesn’t mean Condit is unwilling to take longer and tougher routes either.

“It’s been my goal since I started fighting,” he said of being the UFC champion, adding, “I think a possible number one contender fight with me and [Strikeforce Welterweight Champion] Nick Diaz is a possibility as well.”

Condit believes he can take on fighters firmly among welterweight’s elite like Dong Hyun Kim, Jake Shields and Nick Diaz because he sees himself mixing it up UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre someday despite the two training under the Greg Jackson banner.

“In fact, we really haven’t trained much together. The possibility of us fighting is very real. For the most part, when he’s in and I’m in at the same time, we just kind of stay on our own sides of the gym,” said Condit. “As far as training, it definitely throws in complicated issues as far as coaching, but I guess we’ll have to cross that bridge when we get there.”

Danny Acosta is the lead writer at FIGHT! Magazine. Interview was conducted by Acosta along with Greg DeLong on ESPN’s Inside the Cage 1450a.m. Reno. Follow him on twitter.com/acostaislegend

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American Top Team Offers a Great Opportunity to High Level Wrestlers

Along my travels in writing about mixed martial arts one thing that has really caught my attention was how many of these great athletes got started in MMA. Some of the stories I have heard range from inspiring to very emotional all the way down the lad…

Many of today’s fighters were high caliber collegiate wrestlers getting ready to graduate, but not ready to stop competing. The fire was still as hot and heavy as ever and these guys were not ready to jump into an everyday 9 to 5 job selling insurance or office supplies.

Keep in mind that many of these wrestlers were extremely intelligent and were getting ready to graduate with a four-year degree so it’s not as if they were desperate to find work, they were desperate to compete.

Randy Couture was inspired by watching Don Frye compete in MMA. After earning alternate status three times on the US Olympic team in 1998, 1992 and 1996, Couture knew he still had the itch to test himself against the best in the world. He competed in his first UFC event at 34 years old and the rest is history. He may have had a late start, but he certainly made up for it.

Before his bout with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 110 in February of 2010, I had the pleasure of interviewing current UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez. He had wrestled alongside Ryan Bader and CB Dolloway at Arizona State, but was in a quandary about what he was going to do once he graduated.

He eventually hooked up with the guys over at American Kickboxing Academy and in a short time has become a dominant force in the sport.

There are some really good gyms that can offer fighters a chance to learn from some great instructors in all of these areas, some fighters go where their friends are while others choose gyms near their home.

American Top Team has long been considered one of the best gyms in all of MMA. Their main home is in Coconut Creek, Fla and offers their fighters a place to train amongst a great group of instructors and trainers.

Led by Ricardo Liborio, ATT’s list of instructors is extremely impressive. Their boxing coach is 1976 Olympic Gold Medalist Howard Davis Jr. They also offer a host of amazing jiu-jitsu instructors including six black belts.

ATT is now offering an opportunity for high level wrestlers to come out to Florida and learn from the very best. They are looking for wrestlers to send them their information and a brief bio to Richie Guerriero (puma@americantopteam.com) with Wrestling Opportunity in the subject title.

All emails will be evaluated and a select group will be chosen to go down to Florida for one week, all expenses paid including airfare, hotel stay and transportation from the hotel to the gym each and every day.

Once the week is over the coaches will offer contracts to those who they feel have what it takes to make it in MMA. If you are offered a contract you will be offered the following:

*The chance to train with a World Class professional fight team that has a proven track record of training and managing fighters in the biggest shows such as UFC, Strikeforce, WEC, DREAMS, K-1, and so on…

*A structured training regimen that includes full time coaches in; MMA, BJJ, Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling, Strength and Conditioning and plenty of established high-level training partners to help you in the process of becoming a champion in the sport of MMA!

*Free housing for one year close to the gym. Including; electric, water & sewage.

This arrangement will be evaluated annually for renewal.
*$100 per week for food.

*A gear package of all you will need to get started; shirts, shorts, training gear, etc.

All they ask for in return is a multi-year training and management commitment to ATT, your hard work and a desire to become a champion. This is an excellent opportunity to be able to train full time alongside some of the best fighters in the world.

On any given day you could work alongside Thiago Alves, Mike Brown, Din Thomas, Cole Miller, Tyron Woodley, Thiago Silva, Jeff Monson and so many other great athletes.

If you have any questions email Richie Guerriero at puma@americantopteam.com

Visit American Top Team’s website by clicking here.

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