Chael Sonnen will appeal the California State Athletic Commission drug test which revealed that he tested positive for a banned substance prior to his fight with Anderson Silva at UFC 117. He is scheduled to appear on ESPN’s MMA Live on Thursday to presumably speak about the failed drug test.
According to a report from MMA Fighting, Sonnen’s UFC 117 drug test revealed “abnormally high” levels of testosterone. In a unique twist, Sonnen admitted to CSAC Executive Officer George Dodd that he had used an illegal performance enhancer prior to the UFC 117 main event with Anderson Silva. Thus, Sonnen and the CSAC knew Sonnen tested positive for PEDs going into the fight with Silva.
According to Dodd from MMA Fighting:
“He [Sonnen] told me that he was taking something and I informed my inspector to get with him and make sure we mark it down on our sheet that we use for drug testing, and then we moved forward with the drug testing,” Dodd said. “I don’t recall if he actually informed me what he was taking. …I don’t recall if he did or didn’t. He might’ve, but we were doing a lot of drug testing that night. He may have.”
Regardless, Dodd said that under the California regulations he could not have stopped Sonnen from fighting even after hearing beforehand that the fighter may be using a performance-enhancing substance.
While allowing a fighter to compete with a performance-enhancing substance in his system does seem to pose a risk to his opponent, Dodd acknowledged, there’s no rule that allows for pre-emptive action without a positive drug test.
Sonnen’s manager, Mike Roberts, provided a statementon behalf of Sonnen on Tuesday:
Sonnen will appeal the California State Athletic Commission’s claim that he tested positive for “abnormally high” levels of testosterone and that Sonnen will break his silence on the matter in the coming days.
The “coming days” will be this week. According to Jon Anik’s twitter (h/t Bloody Elbow), Sonnen will appear on ESPN’s MMA Live. An appearance that will definitely be must see television for anyone interested in this issue.
Payout Perspective:
Unlike Shane Carwin’s silence and a rather innocuous statement made by Dana White about Carwin’s situation, it appears that Sonnen will address the drug test head on. It may be unfair to compare the two situations since Sonnen’s situation seems much more urgent as the failed drug results came out recently whereas Carwin’s link to steroids happened several years ago.
Just like a politician, Sonnen will take to the television to speak with his constituents (i.e., MMA fans). Sonnen will rely on his personality to articulate and persuade viewers as to why he failed his drug test. Certainly, the news he admitted to the CSAC that he would fail the drug test shows that he is not hiding anything. Sonnen will use this piece of information in bolstering his credibility.
Will his statement on ESPN rival that of A-Rod’s interview with Peter Gammons? For as much smart and outspoken Sonnen is, it would be difficult for fans to believe he didn’t know what he was doing.
Sonnen’s crisis PR strategy is playing out before us. It will be interesting to see whether Sonnen will admit fault, claim innocence or deny wrongdoing. As Sonnen’s Jim Rome Show appearance showed, he is willing to deny, deny and deny.
Not surprising he should appear on MMA live as they are a show Sonnen can direct himself. The last time Sonnen was on MMA live he only appeared on the assurance that they would highlight only the parts of the fight that showed his domination and not the winning submission.
FFS a MMA higlight show that didnt show the winning submission from the fight on the night? Pathetic excuse for a sports news show, they have shown they have no integrity, they interviewed Sonnen and not once mentioned the submission, Stephen Bonner practically sucked his dick.
Forget Sonnen he talks shit and is prepped to spout more of it on MMA Live which is a controlled enviroment for him.
dex, I agree with the premise of your post. MMA Live which is pretty much an affiliated spokes-show for anything pro-UFC will likely not get to deep into the subject and allow Chael to dictate the interview.
Jason, I have a feeling the MMA audience you refer to will eat up anything Chael gives them. Chael is likely going to go the route of “doctor” prescribed reasons for testing positive. He will then show up at the hearing with some doctors note that will not be dated prior to the fight but will likely be taken into consideration by the CSAC which will then reduce his sentence to 6 months to keep the UFC happy.
This whole situation smells of a bad odor, as nothing seems to be constant as you mentioned in your post. The fact that they have yet to reveal the substance or the levels in question is somewhat concerning. A conspirators dream story.
I just read that the suspension was handed out on the 16th, a day before Dodd mentioned anything to Sherdog. They just released a statement about the suspension it seems today. This is just getting weirder.
Glad he is going to appeal. I don’t really see what he is going to say for the high testosterone levels but Sonnen’s statements never seem to disappoint. Lets see him get out of this one
what ever happened to Chael , 1st you could’nt get ride of him like gas on a 1st date , now hes no where to be seen like the girl on the 2nd date.