The name “Chael Sonnen” has become one of the most dubious in all of mixed martial arts. The former NCAA Division I All-American is one of the most hated men in MMA today.It is easy—and perhaps justified—to immediately dismiss Sonnen as a c…
The name “Chael Sonnen” has become one of the most dubious in all of mixed martial arts. The former NCAA Division I All-American is one of the most hated men in MMA today.
It is easy—and perhaps justified—to immediately dismiss Sonnen as a cheater and a criminal since, after all, he did get busted for highly elevated levels of testosterone and for money laundering.
Nevertheless, Sonnen has been in the sport—as well as under the Zuffa banner—for quite some time. He was even 1:50 away from being the UFC middleweight champion!
So, when it is all said and done, were the actions taken by Chael Sonnen in the UFC ultimately positive or negative in the long term? Read and find out.
Filed under: UFC, NewsNow that the California State Athletic Commission has voted to uphold Chael Sonnen’s indefinite suspension, the UFC middleweight will have a long wait before he gets another day in court.
Now that the California State Athletic Commission has voted to uphold Chael Sonnen‘s indefinite suspension, the UFC middleweight will have a long wait before he gets another day in court.
CSAC executive officer George Dodd told MMA Fighting on Thursday that the soonest Sonnen could reapply for a fighter’s license is May of 2012, though he could apply for a second’s license to corner other fighters sooner.
“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.”
In other words, Sonnen will either have to sit the next twelve months out or else try and get a license to fight in another commission’s jurisdiction. That most likely rules out Nevada, but several other states – not to mention the U.K., Europe, and Japan – would still remain viable options.
That is, if the UFC is willing to promote a fighter who is still officially denied a license from a major commission like California.
If and when Sonnen does reapply for a license in the Golden State, Dodd said, he would have to show the commission proof of his rehabilitation, much like Josh Barnett was asked to do in his recent CSAC hearing.
“[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.”
As for Sonnen’s use of testosterone, Dodd said a therapeutic use exemption is still not out of the question, but the fighter would have to go through the proper channels first.
“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.”
Wednesday’s hearing was not about whether Sonnen was or was not in need of the testosterone injections at the time of his fight with UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva at UFC 117 last August, Dodd said.
Instead, it was about Sonnen’s misrepresentation of conversations he claimed to have had about that testosterone use with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Ultimately, the commission found his explanations of those past statements unconvincing.
“That is true,” Dodd said. “That’s why we never brought up more about what happened back then. We didn’t. I didn’t testify because there was nothing I could testify to that would give it more cause aside from what was already said.”
At Wednesday’s hearing Sonnen told the CSAC that conversations with UFC president Dana White had led him to believe he would be “effectively retired” if he wasn’t relicensed this week. As of yet, there is no official word on what the UFC plans to do with regards to Sonnen’s future in the organization.
The middleweight title challenger who nearly dethroned Anderson Silva at UFC 117 last August, has been given the worst news that a fighter can hear.Chael Sonnen has found out that he will no longer be able to fight in the UFC. According to MMAbay.com.u…
The middleweight title challenger who nearly dethroned Anderson Silva at UFC 117 last August, has been given the worst news that a fighter can hear.
Chael Sonnen has found out that he will no longer be able to fight in the UFC. According to MMAbay.com.uk, Sonnen can no longer compete in the UFC.
The California State Athletic Commission voted 4-1 to indefinitely suspend Sonnen’s liscense to fight. According to testimony from Dana White, this will effectively end the career of a good middleweight mixed martial artist.
The controversial, outspoken martial artist has hit had some dark days lately, and this seems to only add to his pain. First, after UFC 117, he failed his drug test for elevated testosterone levels indicating steroid use. Then he was found guilty in a real estate scandal in his home state of Oregon, and was placed on probation and forced to pay a fine.
This seems to be the nail in the coffin of a successful MMA career. Hopefully, Sonnen can get past these speed bumps and find success in other ventures if this truly is the end of his MMA days.
Filed under: UFCIn his own special way, Chael Sonnen told us this was coming. We just wouldn’t listen. Or maybe we listened too much, but didn’t understand. All we could hear was a pre-fight schtick that was half pro wrestling heel and half insult comi…
In his own special way, Chael Sonnen told us this was coming. We just wouldn’t listen. Or maybe we listened too much, but didn’t understand. All we could hear was a pre-fight schtick that was half pro wrestling heel and half insult comic.
And we loved it. We begged for more. We acted as if there were no consequences because that’s how Sonnen acted. Maybe we wanted to believe it just as much as he did.
In case you haven’t heard, the California State Athletic Commission has said it won’t be giving Sonnen his license back any time soon. It seems that commission officials are none too pleased about being openly lied to during his appeal hearing in December. Those government types are funny that way sometimes.
Filed under: UFCIt wasn’t any one thing that let Ricardo Almeida know it was time for him to retire. As the former UFC fighter told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, his recent losses carried a certain sting, as always, but those alone…
It wasn’t any one thing that let Ricardo Almeida know it was time for him to retire. As the former UFC fighter told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, his recent losses carried a certain sting, as always, but those alone probably couldn’t have driven him out of the sport.
“A big decision like that, it’s usually supported by many little things,” Almeida told Helwani. “It’s like the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”
The 34-year-old Almeida was running his own gym, training himself and others for UFC bouts, and trying to spend as much time as possible with his family, he said, and eventually he came to the conclusion that something had to give. After he lost a unanimous decision to Mike Pyle at UFC 128 in March, he began to feel like his MMA career might be that something.
Wanderlei Silva hasn’t fought for almost a year when he won a Unanimous Decision over Michael Bisping last February at UFC 110, but that hasn’t kept the outspoken Brazilian from consistently making MMA headlines. Silva had been expected to fight Yoshihiro “Sexyama” Akiyama last June at UFC 116 but was forced to pull out […]
Wanderlei Brown is Living in America
Wanderlei Silva hasn’t fought for almost a year when he won a Unanimous Decision over Michael Bisping last February at UFC 110, but that hasn’t kept the outspoken Brazilian from consistently making MMA headlines. Silva had been expected to fight Yoshihiro “Sexyama” Akiyama last June at UFC 116 but was forced to pull out after sustaining 3 broken ribs during training. Chris Leben was a late replacement for Silva and won the fight with an impressive Triangle Choke in the 3rd round. Shortly after, Leben called out Wanderlei Silva as the next fight he wanted. At the time Silva thought a match-up with Leben would be a great fight for him and told MMAFighting “He won’t pass the first two rounds with me”. However, the anticipated fight between Leben and Silva was never meant to be as Dana White decided to give Leben to Brian Stann per Stann’s request.
Meanwhile, a smack-talk happy Chael Sonnen would go on to get his title-shot against UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva, which he ultimately lost. Shortly after that fight, Wanderlei Silva expressed his disdain for Sonnen’s smack-talk and scolded him in the back of a van, as seen: here. During that conversation, Sonnen said his next fight would be a rematch with Anderson Silva, but as we all know Sonnen shamed his way out of lost that immediate title-shot after he tested positive for PEDs following the UFC 117 fight. Sonnen then turned his attention to Wanderlei as he began to stew over that van scolding and entered into a Twitter war of words with Wandy that many thought was leading to a meeting in the Octagon. But then, Sonnen went and got himself all mixed up in some money laundering scheme, thus sidelining his UFC career for awhile.
Oh no! Now who would Wandy fight? Enter Brian Stann, the former Marine and virtual newcomer who abolished Chris Leben with knees and strikes in the first round. Stann, who has proved to be a refreshingly humble fighter is now one of the top Middleweights to watch out for and when asked who he’d like to face next, he quietly and respectfully asked for Wanderlei Silva. Dana White seemed all for this bout, but Silva wasn’t quite up for marketing or accepting this one. According to MMA Junkie, White said:
“We were actually trying to hook [Silva] up with Brian Stann. He doesn’t want to fight Brian Stann. He’s like, ‘[Expletive] that. Everybody is going to hate me if I fight Brian Stann. Everybody loves Brian Stann.’ But that’s the fight we’re trying to make right now.”
And “make” they did as the two Middleweights were signed on to meet at UFC 130 this May. But… then a highly regarded fellow Brazilian nemesis, Vitor Belfort lost a title-shot with Anderson Silva at UFC 126 due to a high kick so majestic, Steven Seagal lays claim to its very invention.And Wanderlei Silvacame forth with the request that he and Belfort settle a long overdue score. Silva challenged Belfort via Brazilian outlet, Tatame:
“And now, where are you running to? I’d give him the number one (on the line to fight me) easily, I’m challenging him … I want him”.
And now friends… he’s got him! Wanderlei Silva is out of UFC 130 and Wandy vs. Vitor Belfort II is set for UFC [yet to be numbered] Rio. Let’s hope after all his hard hyping work, this fight actually happens and Wanderlei doesn’t end up on the losing end of this rematch as he did their first time in the cage, as seen below:
*Editor’s note: Don’t knock that sweet little Wanderlei/James Brown photoshop pic we did; though we actually could have used this old pic of Wandy in his younger days:
Now that the California State Athletic Commission has voted to uphold 
In his own special way, 
It wasn’t any one thing that let 
