CSAC on Sonnen: Inconsistencies, money laundering led to suspension
In a Wednesday decision to uphold Chael Sonnen’s indefinite suspension, the California State Athletic Commission ruled that inconsistencies in the…
In a Wednesday decision to uphold Chael Sonnen’s indefinite suspension, the California State Athletic Commission ruled that inconsistencies in the onetime middleweight contender’s previous statements to the commission, as well as his recent felony charge on money laundering, ultimately constituted a threat to public safety and served as a discredit to the sport of MMA.
A 4-1 ruling in favor of Sonnen’s punishment, which effectively bars him from professional competition until June 29 and could, as he said, prompt his retirement from MMA, showed the commission was swayed little by a counter-argument that his inconsistencies were not malicious and that rehabilitation had taken place in the five months since his most recent appearance before them.
Real estate, fight contracts, and testosterone – CSAC commissioners engaged Sonnen on all fronts. He was asked what he was thinking when he participated in a deal that ultimately cost him a real estate license (Sonnen said he and his superiors signed off on the deal and didn’t intend to break the law, though he was aware that impropriety was occurring and said he went to regulators to resolve it). He was asked, somewhat seriously, whether he used “fuzzy language” when writing out fight contracts. He was asked if he still used testosterone.
But commissioner Christopher Giza pointedly called upon several contradictory statements Sonnen made to the commission and the media. Those contradictions, he said, called into question the fighter’s “veracity.” Sonnen said he was comfortable with the testimony he gave in December, yet said he could have been more precise. Sonnen had gotten testosterone from a doctor, yet he previously said that he didn’t disclose its usage because he didn’t believe it was a medication. “These aren’t the only examples of inconsistencies, and I would think that at some point in this process, you would really be going out of your way to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s,” Giza said.
Dr. Lemons had serious concerns about Sonnen’s long-term usage of testosterone, particularly in relation to its possible side effects. It was Sonnen’s understanding from his doctor that the treatments were needed for “survival” and he had the “testosterone of a 93-year-old man.” Sonnen said he would still take the drug regardless of whether he fought or not, to which Lemons suggested he get a second opinion.