Mixed martial arts career Chael Sonnen

1 mixed martial arts career

1.1 ufc
1.2 bodog fight
1.3 world extreme cagefighting
1.4 return ufc

1.4.1 silva vs sonnen


1.5 csac suspensions , appeals

1.5.1 initial appeal
1.5.2 subsequent suspension csac


1.6 second return ufc

1.6.1 silva vs sonnen ii
1.6.2 return light heavyweight
1.6.3 ultimate fighter: brazil 3, failed drug tests, termination , retirement


1.7 bellator mma

mixed martial arts career

sonnen started mixed martial arts career in 1997 @ age of 19, defeating ben hailey in vancouver, washington. next defeated future icon sport middleweight champion , strikeforce middleweight contender jason mayhem miller. won first 6 fights, before losing trevor prangley. in late 2003, submitted future ultimate fighter winner , ufc light heavyweight champion forrest griffin triangle choke submission.

ufc

sonnen made ufc debut in light heavyweight bout against former ifc light heavyweight champion renato sobral @ ufc 55, submitting second-round triangle choke. avenged first loss, winning unanimous decision on trevor prangley @ ufc ultimate fight night 4. @ ufc 60, fought jeremy horn third time , submitted armbar. shortly after, released ufc.

bodog fight

in may 2006, sonnen debuted bodog fight, defeating tim credeur via tko. went on win unanimous decision on alexey oleinik, defeat tim mckenzie in 13 seconds d arce choke, , finish ufc , pride veteran amar suloev via tko. after leaving bodog, sonnen defeated future ultimate fighter member kyacey uscola @ superfight 20: homecoming.

world extreme cagefighting

in december 2007, sonnen fought paulo filho wec middleweight championship. sonnen lost via controversial submission @ 4:55 of second round. sonnen did not tap out screamed in pain, referee interpreted verbal submission. in post-fight interview, sonnen said told referee not stop fight, , continually said no when referee asked if wanted submit. keith kizer, executive director of nevada state athletic commission, claimed sonnen yelled no after referee stopped fight. kizer , dana white (who watching ringside) both agreed call.

a rematch scheduled march 26, 2008, cancelled after filho entered drug rehabilitation program. sonnen instead faced undefeated contender bryan baker , dominated him 3 rounds win unanimous decision. sonnen , filho met again on november 5, 2008, , sonnen won unanimous decision. prior fight, filho weighed in 7 pounds on 185 pound limit, bout ruled non-title match. after filho lost, announced ship sonnen championship belt.

return ufc

following dissolution of wec s middleweight division, sonnen returned ufc.

in first fight promotion since ufc 60, submiited jiu-jitsu ace demian maia via triangle choke submission @ ufc 95.

at ufc 98 in may 2009, sonnen defeated dan miller via unanimous decision. late replacement yushin okami, tore ligament while training. took fight on 22 days notice, , lost 36 pounds in order compete.

in next fight, @ ufc 104, sonnen outwrestled okami unanimous decision victory.

sonnen expected face nate marquardt @ ufc 110, fight moved ufc 109 on february 6. sonnen won unanimous 30-27 decision, after escaping 2 deep guillotine chokes in first , third rounds. victory, sonnen became number 1 contender ufc middleweight championship.

silva vs sonnen

at ufc 117 on august 7, 2010, sonnen challenged anderson silva ufc middleweight championship. sonnen had trash talked hype fight, stating going retire silva. heading fifth round, sonnen led on judges scorecards (40–34, 40–35, , 40–36). @ 3:10 final round, silva caught sonnen in triangle armbar , made him tap out. in later interview, sonnen stated choke, not armbar, made him submit. fight earned both fighters fight of night honors, , considered best fight of year many critics. fight later awarded fight of year world mma awards.

csac suspensions , appeals

urinalysis conducted after loss anderson silva showed sonnen had unallowably high testosterone/epitestosterone (t/e) ratio of 16.9:1 @ time of fight. average man has t/e ratio of 1:1, , testing bodies may allow ratio high 4:1 athletes undergoing trt treatment. in other words, sonnen s t/e ratio 17 times normal man s , on 4 times allowed maximum athlete. fined $2,500 , suspended 1 year (until september 2, 2011) california state athletic commission (csac). scheduled rematch silva subsequently cancelled.

initial appeal

sonnen appealed csac s decision. hearing held on december 2, 2010. principal grounds of appeal had medical justification taking testosterone, , believed had taken necessary steps disclose condition , treatment csac. testified had been diagnosed hypogonadism in 2008 , undergoing testosterone replacement therapy (trt), self-injecting synthetic testosterone 2 times week. sonnen s physician, dr. mark czarnecki, present @ hearing , attested these claims.

in sworn testimony, sonnen claimed have been approved trt nevada state athletic commission (nsac), , have spoken directly nsac s executive director, keith kizer, informed him approved trt , should not again disclose treatment on pre-bout medical disclosure statements required nsac. said believed advice disclosure applied forms of other state athletic commissions. said had disclosed condition csac before ufc 104 bout yushin okami, took place in los angeles on october 24, 2009. based on testimony, csac voted recharacterize sonnen s transgression failure disclose medical treatment, , correspondingly reduced suspension twelve months six, ending march 2, 2011.

keith kizer publicly responded sonnen s testimony, claiming nsac had never approved sonnen trt, sonnen had never applied approval process, , had never talked chael sonnen in [his] life. @ subsequent meeting between ufc, sonnen , nsac, kizer asked sonnen testimony @ december 2, 2010, csac hearing. according kizer, sonnen deflected questions but, when pressed further, admitted no conversation between kizer , himself had occurred. sonnen explained manager , talked therapeutic exemptions, , therefore, used wrong word. should have said instead of i. in manager instead of . kizer called strange story , ridiculous explanation kizer acknowledged speaking sonnen s manager (matt lindland) trt, said conversation concerned procedure itself, not application of particular fighter.

csac executive director george dodd has contradicted sonnen s testimony, stating csac has no documentary evidence of sonnen ever being approved trt.

subsequent suspension csac

sonnen s abbreviated csac suspension expired on march 2, 2011. however, in third week of april 2011, csac announced had reversed decision lower sentence, , had placed him on indefinite administrative suspension due conviction money laundering (see below) , possibly false testimony during hearing of december 2, 2010. sonnen appeared before csac on may 18, 2011, requesting suspension lifted. after hearing testimony keith kizer via streaming video, sonnen , supporters, csac voted 4–1 uphold suspension. 2 days later, csac clarified applicable regulations allowed sonnen suspended until existing license expired (on june 29, 2011). if sonnen applied new license after june 29, 2011, have reappear before csac, deny application.

second return ufc

after suspension, sonnen returned ufc on october 8, 2011, defeating brian stann second round arm triangle choke @ ufc 136.

sonnen expected face mark muñoz on january @ ufc on fox 2, muñoz injured , replaced michael bisping. sonnen awarded unanimous decision victory after 3 rounds.

silva vs sonnen ii

a rematch anderson silva scheduled ufc 147, bout moved ufc 148 on july 7, 2012, after scheduling conflict un conference on sustainable development forced ufc 147 smaller venue. fight considered many analysts , several major media outlets highly anticipated bout in ufc history.

as fight took place, sonnen took champion down in first round , maintained dominant position throughout, gaining full mount while attacking ground-and-pound. 1 cageside judge scored 10-8 round silva credited 0 strikes. sonnen connected 76 strikes top position in opening round, , held 22-to-15 edge in significant strikes against silva. however, sonnen unable inflict damage champion, , silva stopped sonnen knee strike , punches tko @ 1:55 of second round, after sonnen failed connect spinning elbow strike , tripped.

return light heavyweight

on august 14, 2012, on ufc tonight, sonnen announced face forrest griffin in light heavyweight rematch on december 29, 2012, @ ufc 155. rematch griffin scrapped after sonnen tabbed coach ultimate fighter 17 against light heavyweight champion jon jones.

a bout between sonnen , jones ufc light heavyweight championship took place on april 27, 2013, @ ufc 159. sonnen accepted fight jon jones title @ ufc 151, after jones original challenger dan henderson injured, jones declined. fighters upset title opportunity because sonnen, arguably legendary talker in ufc history , has not fought bout since returning light heavyweight division. dana white defended matchup, saying sonnen willing fly on las vegas fight jones on same day , while other contenders maurício rua , lyoto machida turned offer down.

jon jones showed lack of interest in fight , downplayed contest, making clear not believe sonnen fit contender. in interview, sonnen did best hype interest jones gave him silent treatment , refusing make eye contact. jones dispatched challenger using sonnen s own style defeat him via tko in first round. despite beatdown, sonnen 27 seconds away winning title, later discovered that, while defending takedown, jones suffered serious toe injury have resulted in doctor s stoppage tko loss if bout continued second round.

sonnen expected face maurício rua on june 15, 2013, @ ufc 161, replacing antônio rogério nogueira pulled out of bout citing injury. though alleged visa issue created problem sonnen canada, resulting in rua being pulled event altogether. bout rua took place on august 17, 2013, @ ufc fight night 26. sonnen won via guillotine choke submission in first round.

sonnen faced rashad evans on november 16, 2013, @ ufc 167. lost fight via tko in first round.

the ultimate fighter: brazil 3, failed drug tests, termination , retirement

on october 22, 2013, announced sonnen coaching ultimate fighter: brazil 3, against long-time rival wanderlei silva. bout silva, briefly attached ufc 173, @ ultimate fighter: brazil 3 finale, expected take place on july 5, 2014, @ ufc 175. dana white later stated fight had rescheduled because silva injured hand brawl sonnen took place during filming of show. silva pulled fight entirely after failed submit application fight in state of nevada, refusal undergo random drug test , replaced vitor belfort. however, sonnen subsequently failed random drug test , removed bout.

following controversy of second failed drug test, sonnen announced on june 11, 2014, episode of ufc tonight retirement mma competition.

subsequent retirement, revealed on june 28, 2014, nsac sonnen had failed second random drug test – third failed drug test throughout mma career – due presence of human growth hormone (hgh), recombinant human erythropoietin (epo), anastrozole, , human chorionic gonadotropin (hcg).

on june 30, 2014, ufc , fox sports announced had terminated sonnen s contract ufc analyst due multiple failed drug tests. on july 23, 2014, nsac ruled sonnen suspended 2 years martial arts competition worldwide due multiple failed drugs tests.

bellator mma

on september 15, 2016, reported sonnen had signed multi-fight contract bellator mma.

sonnen made promotional debut in light heavyweight match against former ufc light heavyweight champion , ufc hall of famer tito ortiz on january 21, 2017 in main event @ bellator 170. lost fight via submission in first round.

his second promotional fight rescheduled match against wanderlei silva on june 24, 2017 in main event @ bellator nyc. won fight via unanimous decision. in post-fight speech, called bout heavyweight fedor emilianenko, had lost earlier on card.