Chael Sonnen has been suspended one-year and fined $2,500 by the California State Athletic Commission after testing positive for high testosterone levels following his loss to middleweight champ Anderson Silva at UFC 117 on Aug. 7.
News of Sonnen’s failed drug test first broke on Sunday.
Sonnen can file an appeal within 30-days, but reportedly admitted to taking a banned substance while being tested.
“He only indicated that he was taking it but he never indicated why,” CSAC executive director George Dodd told SI.com. “[Sonnen] just let me know he was taking [something] and that’s when I called over an inspector to get it documented. But when you do take it you still have to show a medical reason.”
Sonnen was slated to get an immediate rematch with Silva early next year after dominating Silva before being submitted in the final round, but that title shot will now go to the winner of UFC 122′s Vitor Belfort vs. Yushin Okami.
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Cheat to win, but lose? That is just unfortunate.
good riddance to bad rubbish. I arrest my case on my previous “opinions” of this particular fighter. How ironic…all that sh!t talkin cuz he was confident in his super soldier serum working, but in the end the better fighter preveiled.
lol we posted at the same time with good riddance lol
LLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL
You “arrest” your case?
Can we get a basic literacy requirement please?
I was going to bite but you beat me to it. I will put my bag ‘o sarcastic replies to arrest…
i just read this and that is what i was thinking, what are you arresting his character?
This post is for everyone jumping the gun on this whole thing, well FYI 4 all, I just read that Chael is filing an appeal and is going to make a statement in the coming days.
Did anyone else notice the guy in the background of the pic? Looks to me like he’s about to salivate over chael. And in the words of Seinfeld and George “not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
good riddance. anderson ain’t gettin any younger, lets throw him vitor and a few others to close out a sick career, chael had his chance and tapped, period end of story
@JK Lmao great minds. I agree lets see him fight Belfort, because honestly Chael showed he can get clipped and he aint tha best striker in the division by far. I think Belfort could finish him
where is all the sonnen supporters now. cheated and still couldnt beat the best fighter @185
Still a Chael supporter (mostly because I am a Silva hater), all of this news is so unfortunate because that performance was absolutely amazing until the ending. I’ll never understand why fighters take PEDs so close to fight time, knowing they will be tested, imagine if he had won the fight and would be giving the belt back right now. IMHO, its really too bad because having gone back and watched the fight several times today, Silva was dominated by solid technique based wrestling, the exact thing everyone predicted would be Chael’s only chance against Silva. You almost have to wonder if Chael immediately regretted taking them once he saw his wrestling dominate. I guess I really don’t know enough about PEDs to be able to tell how much more it helped him in the fight. Hopefully the reason for him taking them comes out very soon. So unfortunate cause of how good the rematch would have sold. Remember how miserable we were last winter with all the injuries and late replacements.
How much better does silva now look? In my opinion, if he can take a beating from a juiced up sonnen for 25 minutes and still pull through with a victory he is clearly the best at a human and perhaps a super human level – it’s amazing what a little test will do to your endurance and strength…
Amen!
aww i like to watch chael fight really wanted to see him and silva go at it again but im going for vitor
@j1ufc- im a chael supporter and im still here… he is a dumb@$$ for takin that but he still is a good fighter. he destroyed marquardt without anything… ya he is an idiot for taking the substance but is still a good fighter. i bet u couldnt cheat and still beat anderson silva… u could take a gun in the octagon and he prob still knock ur head off
if there r no bullets in the gun your right.
but couldnt last a round with maia… good fighter? please
Let’s be honest. Many fighters in the UFC take PED’s but we have no proof because they know how to cycle properly. They immensly help the way these guys are able to train for fights. They don’t however, teach them how to apply the great techniques they exhibit.
I am in no way condoning these actions, but to think less of a guy for getting caught is being incredibly narrowminded. Fighters don’t need to show great bodies or anything to be on banned substances. Just look at Barnett. Sonnen got caught and immediately admitted he was taking something. He didn;t try to lie or hide like Sherk and Franca did. He took it like a man, and I’m sure he will serve his suspension like one too.
Sonnen is a great fighter. He showed it against Silva and Marquardt. PED’s did not help the skilled wrestling technique he exhibited. That’s all him.
I’m sure his name will always be tarnished, but if Sonnen is the man I think he is, he’ll come back even better than last time.
Sonnen has issued no formal statement at all. He just admitted during testing that his sample may produce a positive result.
your also right about me being juiced and not being able to beat him, what your missing is the fact that he sat there and ran his mouth about beating someone when the entire time HE knew HE was cheating.
YESSS! atleast he admided it like a man. still a POS, and a troll;) IMO
If he admitted to taking it during pre-fight testing I’m actually appalled he was allowed to fight. Maybe they assumed he was joking since he didn’t turn in any documentation but otherwise this is ridiculous.
My girlfriend said and thought this when I first read her the article, too, but if you look closely in articles it says that he admitted it during testing. It didn’t say during pre-fight testing; if i’m not mistaken there wasn’t pre-fight testing in this instance. There was a pre-fight form they had to fill out regarding substances they had been taking (legal or otherwise), but nowhere does it say that Sonnen’s admission was during pre-fight testing. Just that he didn’t put anything on the pre-fight questionnaire, and that he “admitted during testing” which (at least the test he failed) was done post-fight. Sorry to talk in circles but I was trying to be clear (and probably failed). If I am wrong though and he did admit it PRE-fight, the person he admitted it to should lose their job immediately for allowing the fight to proceed. And to echo a sentiment already existing here, good riddance to bad rubbish. He dominated Silva for 4.15 rounds, then got SUBMITTED. That is losing, period, not getting possibly robbed on a close decision, or having a very back and forth fight go to close decision (the normal reasons for immediate rematches). Although I would like to see the winner of Okami/Belfort fight against Nate Marquardt to determine the number one contender…Anderson needs time to heal, and Marquardt needs one more good win to get back in No1 contender contention. Putting him against the winner of the upcoming fight (esp if they don’t take too much damage, as well) would be a great way to get a real number one contender. Although it guess it would eliminate the ability for a quick second title defense, though that never happens in the middleweight division anyway. I think they want to keep Anderson under contract as long as possible, since the contract length is determined by number of fights haha
There was a bit of inconsistency with when the test was administered but today George Dodd(CSAC Executive Officer) said that it was during the pre-fight testing. Dodd asserts that Sonnen’s admission was prefight in his interview with SI.com.
oh and he also lost
For a guy using test he isnt very big. Im sure this will be blamed on over-the-couter testosterone precursor, sentence will be reduced to 6 months like Sherk and he’ll be back to kicking ass in no time.
Sorry to see Chael come up on banned substances. Really too bad.
Sorrier to see Anderson “I’m not fighting that bad mofo Thales Leites” silva still has fans. Or Anderson “Gosh, Damien Maia disrespected me so I’m not fighting him neither” silva has fans. And lastly, Mr, Golly, my ribs hurt still has a few trolls under the bridge.
The 185 division just went back to dead to me. Hope the Silva supporters can buy a few extra PPV’s cuz I’ll never buy another Silva PPV again.
No fighter bashing-Chris L.
Sorry to see you chime in also..Someone call the WAmbulance for this guy
round 3 will start soon when the reason the fight wa$ allowed to happen aftyer Sonnen’s admission surfaces.
What is this “it” that he was taking?
I mean, was it a diarrhetic to help cut weight before the weigh in?
Something inside of a ‘legal’/over the counter supplement he was taking?
Or are these facts typically not revealed by the CSAC to the general public?
Thing is, I’ve watched Chael fight for years (WEC, UFC) and his style of fighting has always been guns blazing / always coming after you for the takedown, never really slowing his pace…just like he did against Okami, Nate, Filho, (“PED” free). Personally, I didn’t see anything different or even ‘superior’ in his performance against Anderson Sliva, when comparing to any of the other top fighters he’s dominated round after round (weather he ended up getting subbed / lost, or not).
You bring up a good point because it doesn’t say specifically what he had taken which doesn’t necessarily mean steriods. PerhaPs I’m being too optimistic?
Sonnen never specified pre-fight but tests revealed he had abnormal levels of testosterone. This is indicative of some sort of steroid. Steroids have different uses dependent on the type, some are for bulk and others are for weight cutting etc. The substance is supposed to be revealed sometime during the week in an official CSAC press release. At this time of this post there is no release available. We know it was described as a steroid substance and that it was supposed to be a natural steroid but other than that info is scarce as Chael cannot be reached for comment and CSAC is taking their time.
Sorry mods, here comes round 2. Good luck guys.
Yeah, this is going to be a real “release the hounds” moment for [almost all] Sonnen haters, [some] Silva supporters, and trolls of every sort.
Much respect to anyone who tries to mod in this sh!tstorm…
ur first post and u are calling for the Moderators. U just can’t make this stuff up. stick to the topic okay. we have heard u millions of times play the mall cop here.
@Mike, no one is calling the mods here. If you were a regular visitor here at the frenZy, you would know who the mods are and what they have been going through since Saturday when this sh!t storm started.
@mike – and please, if you feel the need to post in a manner in which no one can suss out what you’re talking about, thats your right, but could you please maybe not do it underneath me?
Thanks…
Oh man thats too bad this guy is finished and whoever got attacked for calling Sonnen a joke on the last thread, u were right on the money
Props to Anderson Silva’s BJJ submitting a juiced up wrestler
For someone that speaks rather intelligently, Chael isn’t the sharpest tool around. I’m sure that the athletic commission must publish a list of banned substances, and he must have known that he was going to be tested. C’mon, take something that won’t get you suspended! Same goes for Sean Sherk. Same with Royce Gracie when he fought Sakuraba a few years back. How do these guys think that they’re going to beat a drug test? Bottom line is that a juiced Chael still couldn’t beat Anderson. Epic fail. And I’m not even an Anderson Silva fan! I’m a fan of people that aren’t delusional. Let Chael go to Strikeforce. I’m done with him.
*Sigh*
He won’t be cut.
@bsbiz
…and so it begins, again. :/
@ Sammy Adams
There is in fact NO OFFICIAL LIST OF BANNED SUBSTANCES
CSAC based their their rules off of that of the NCAA, listed here(courtesy of Chrisl)
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/53e6f4804e0b8a129949f91ad6fc8b25/2009-10+Banned+Drug+Classes.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=53e6f4804e0b8a129949f91ad6fc8b25
it is more or less generalized to opiates, steriods, painkillers, and antidepressants. if the result of this test was due to that of a testosterone inducing prohormone then there is nothing other then word of mouth (i.e. Bigfoot Silva ’09) that will say yes or no you can take this. note that all the post said was that he had high test levels. there are over the counter things that can cause this which will not in turn be on any list.
His testosterone levels were out of normal limits for competeing athletes, anything that causes his testosterone levels to rise over those normal limits is going to get him suspended regardless of whether or not it’s OTC or involves him going to a secret lab in California. Not to mention the article says he mentioned to the CSAC executive officier that he would likely test positive for something but didn’t list it on the pre-fight questionnaire or notify CSAC that he had been sick and/or taken anything.
We all definitely need to wait for more info to drop, because as things read now, it sort of sounds like Sonnen was allowed to fight by the CSAC even though he admitted to taking a banned substance.
I’m no Silva supporter, but if thats how this all shook out, then the existing sh!tstorm is going to go from F 1 to F 5 to F You in record time…
@jcohl
I agree, I’m not going to judge or accuse Chael Sonnen until everything is said and done. I don’t see a point in everyone talking about him taking steroids and being juiced up when it doesn’t say what he took. Imagine if it was some over the counter painkiller or medication and him himself didn’t know it was illegal, until after he took it or until this came up. If it was something he knew was illegal than that’s a different story and until we all find out I don’t like the idea of accusing someone of something without knowing everything that has gone on. Also, he never admitted to taking anything yet. He said what he said at that conference, but he hasn’t said anything since this came out. Admitting it at that conference could of been a joke or a sign that he took something and didn’t realize it was illegal until after he took it. Until he says something after all of this, he really hasn’t admitted to taking anything. I still hope he didn’t do this and the reason is for himself, his father that passed away, and for the sport of MMA, but the longer it gets the more it seems like it’s true.
@Tom Read the headline……Chael Sonnen admits taking banned substance. That implies to me that he took it while knowing full well it was banned. More importantly is what he took and perhaps why, and what role it played in his beatdown of Silva if any.
@Amped
If you paid attention to what I wrote than you would of realized that Chael didn’t admit to taking anything after these accusations. He said he would probably fail the drug test before these accusations were made. That could of been a joke. It doesn’t mean he admitted to taking anything and now he’s appealing it, which means he didn’t admit to taking a banned substance. It’s a lot easier to read something when you’re not thinking at the same time. Try it out next time and you’ll probably understand what people are actually talking about. Re-read what I wrote without thinking and you might get it.
What about Chael’s back acne? Check out the wiegh-in pose photos against Okami, Nate and Silva. He appears to have quite an outburst happening against Nate and Silva.
Sonnen is a douche! How can he talk about a legend like Lance Armstrong taking PED’s (also the fact that they caused him cancer,douche x by infinity) then get caught for doing the same thing. Any respect i had for that guy has disappeared.It’s a shame that he won’t get cut, even more gauling is the fact that if Silva is still the champ this time next year then the chances of Sonnen getting a title shot straight away (a al Sherk) are quite strong.
If the UFC and Dana White are really serious about their fighters not taking PED’s then cut the fighters that are caught, im sure that sends out a more serious message than take drugs, serve your ban then come back and fight possibly for a title.
For me the UFC have made their own bed, now they have to sleep in it.
No fighter bashing. -BSBiz
I know that BSBiz but i’m flabbergasted by his antics and felt the need to vent my anger even if it’s not allowed here. If anyone is allowed to be bashed then it’s Sonnen, after all there’s no one on his radar that isn’t exempt judging by his recent comments.
Does anyone think the PED’s affected his brain?!?
If you need to vent your anger, I’m sure there are more places in your real life that are more productive than on a website. There are no excuses for fighter bashing. Period.
Good one Bsbiz :)
The CSAC’s Executive Director George Dodd told Sports Illustrated that Sonnen had actually told him that he might fail for a Performance Enhancing Drug shortly before taking the pre-fight test, the day before UFC 117. Dodd told SI.com that “He only indicated that he was taking [illegal substance] but he never indicated why” and that Sonnen failed to include details of the substance or provide a genuine medical reason for using it in the formal documentation that all fighters submit to the Commission about any medicines or supplements they may be using. – Why was the fight allowed to go ahead?!? What would of happened if he had won. The UFC is losing credibility here.
There has of yet been no comment from Chael Sonnen. – There’s a first time for everything
The UFC isn’t losing any credibility by that. The CSAC is. The CSAC should have refused to grant him a license and had that cancel the fight. The UFC doesn’t control any of that.
Will you learn how the system works…please?
Anyone get a comment from Lance Armstrong yet or is he gonna be the bigger man?
Lance isn’t even wasting any time on Sonnen
If someone asked Lance for a comment on Chael Sonnen his response would be, “Who?”
While I’d like to see Sonnen back in action, but, it puts the UFC in a hard place. Toy and car manufacturers recall when the situation calls for it. This case it’s a bad example that the UFC can’t support. Since the bottom tier fighters make less than minimum wage after adding up time and expense of training, there is a bit of a contradiction in what Dana said about Sonnen’s having to make a living – he’s already earned more in the sport than most ever will. Although I’m guessing that his Tapout contract won’t be happening – not even any prospects with SudFed or NyQuil.
No one is required to fight for a living. If someone isn’t good enough to make a living in the UFC maybe they should go get a job.
Furthermore, your communist roots are showing in your statement that Dana is contradicting himself. Yes, Chael has made money fighting. He has likely also bought a house and a car and spent more than a good bit of it. As a result, a year off hurts his ability to make any money in that sport.
Or you could understand the context Dana was speaking in – notably that he wouldn’t impose an EXTRA suspension on a fighter beyond what the AC does. To him, EXTRA time off is too harsh when a year suspension has already been served.
Just so ya know, my dad fought and lost his own Dad to the Soviet bear (oh yea and everything they owned too), so needless to say I’m not a communist, nor was that ever my roots. However Rockerfeller (R.I.P) would turn over in his grave to see someone profiting on a free enterprise system, by cheating. In walk the AC. and we’re cool with that.
I would like to see Sonnen fight again (clean), and wasn’t saying that Dana should make the suspension longer just that it seems like a deflective sob story, at a time when people must be wondering where the UFC stands on PED’s. Daley’s sucker was a different thing altogether but still it’s about the UFC having to decide whether to carry a guy based on the merit of all his hard work or keep ‘em and take the bad with the good. Anyway I expect DW will have more to say.
Except that the UFC can’t get involved in testing the athletes because that’s the purview of the state Athletic Commissions. The UFC doesn’t get involved in the suspensions because that’s the job of the Athletic Commissions.
Where does the UFC stand on PEDs? Probably where everyone else stands on them: either all in or all out, depending on the rules the Athletic Commissions set. The business model they have built, the one that makes them as efficient business-wise as they are, doesn’t allow them to unilaterally hand down rules on what fighters can and can’t do in their time off. They only control the money that fighters are contracted to get, who they fight and where. That’s it. The Athletic Commissions set the rules of the cage. The ACs set the rules for fighting licenses. The ACs set the medical suspension rules. The UFC only hands out the checks, ultimately.
i just hope Okami doesn’t beat Vitor. Vitor and Silva is the fight i want to see. Vitor gets beat it really messes things up. If Silva wasn’t hurt i wouldn’t be surprised if Okami got a mystery injury to cancel that fight. There would be very little interest in Okami Silva bout. A true fight fan wants to see Silva strike with Vitor. A guy who is on Silva’s level with striking or possibly better.
“A true fight fan wants to see Silva strike with Vitor. A guy who is on Silva’s level with striking or possibly better.”
No, a true fight fan wants to see a good fight. If it happens on the ground, so be it. If it happens on the feet, so be it. I’m guessing you BOO during mostly wrestling MMA fights don’t you?
dbiz,
I have to agree, not much erks me more than hearing uninformed fans booing during a fight. I think a lot of those people need to start watching K-1, very exciting, STANDUP fighting. If you are a mma fan then you must understand wrestling is a big part of mma. And maybe if some of these people had a little more knowledge of the ground game they wouldn’t be booing. Now I admit some guys will take a guy down and literally lie on top of them and not do much else, (I was going to name someone, but I’ll keep my opinion to myself on this one). What I think some fans don’t see in the ground game is the battle for position, defending or positioning for a submission, all the little details that go into ground fighting. I know Joe Rogan hates ALL stand-ups, I won’t go that far, sometimes I think it’s justified, sometimes 2 fighters will stall one another and not be able or not try hard enough to advance their position.
I say BOOOOO to all the people in the stands that I hear booing fighters, you get in there and see how it goes for ya. Who watches Dream? Ever notice that in Japan you don’t hear booing, I think it’s because they tend to be more informed fight fans, as opposed to people that just want to see 2 guys punch the snot out of each other.
dbiz can define a “true” fan from a “fake fan”? any questions just ask him, he knows!
So Mike is the only one who can define “true fan”? Riiiiiight…
u guessed wrong slick
Yea Vitor. The most capable of beating Anderson by standing KO.
But there is the possibility that Anderson’s footwork and reach will neutralize Vitor’s stand up, and Vitor will tap on the ground. nothing shabby about that possibility but not guaranteed fireworks. Okami would have a tough time surviving the stand up or clinch, but he could do well on the ground a la Chael or roughly along the same lines I’ve always imagined that Lindland could have – maybe still could. Sheilds….ah, never mind, let’s get buzzed about OKAMI VS BELFORT
I like everybody is obviously disappointed to hear about Sonnen, but until we get more info on it, no reason for most of this. I for one am in a way happy that the rematch isn’t taking place because i like seeing new people get a shot, and the Vitor / Okami fight is a great matchup that everybody is so quick to say Vitor will win this fight. Okami is nobody’s pushover, he took Franklin to the limit and almost submitted him. His wrestling can neutralize anybody and unless Vitor knocks him out early in the fight, the further this fight goes, the more Okami has a chance to win this fight. Vitor is a great striker, but nobody is a great striker from their back. I don’t care which one Silva fights, either way, it will be a great fight.
Unbelievable dude…
How could you say alllllllllllllllllll that $hit about all the UFC champions(except for edgar) and then admit to have used banned substances??
You let me down chael…
That’s too bad for Chael. He cheated his fans, the UFC, MMA in general,
and most of all he cheated himself. With two minutes left in the fight, justice was served.
I don’t believe Anderson will lolly gag around with his hands down
against Vitor if that’s who he ends up facing next. He is well aware
of Vitor’s KO power. If he ends up facing Okami, he’ll get a shot
at redemption for the DQ.
It’s better to wait until you know everything that’s going and gone on before judging or accusing someone of something.
that was pretty quick taking off the copy and paste. :) Sorry about that.
The latest rant is that Sonnen’s PED is used specifically to increase rate of speech. Sources close to Sonnen said the docs convinced Chael it would help him sell the fight.
are you serious?
Nope. After reading all the postings I figured making sh!t up was fair game!
I this was a great fight but the better fighter did win sonnan is trash I dont like silva either but he has heart i think only gsp can beat silva
Wasn’t Sonnen the one who said Lance Armstrong “gave himself cancer” by using PEDs? He looked like a real a-hole then, but he REALLY looks like an a-hole now.
Lets not forget it STILL has not been confirmed what exactly Sonnen was taking. I for one will stand by Chael until confirmed, as his domination of Silva was as exciting a fight as I can remember in the recent past. If he was on the roids, it is a dissapointment of course. As far as the next fight, Silva will have his hands full with Vitor Belfort, who is arguably the best striker at 185lbs. Im more excited to see this as a Chael rematch would represent another Wrestling VS BJJ fight, but Silva VS Belfort will be a stand up war.
You have to take performance-enhancing drugs just to get close to beating Anderson Silva, but you still lose.
Vitor Belfort, after all that hype didn’t even come close.