Chael Sonnen: Is This The End?

WWE released a DVD in 2005 entitled “The Self Destruction of The Ultimate Warrior” Which documents Jim Hellwigs’ rise to superstardom before he sent his career in a downward spiral resulting in one of the biggest disappointments in the WWE’s storied history.

In 2011 the UFC could be releasing a similar DVD for their most outspoken fighter on the roster as Sonnen has had a roller coaster ride filled with the highest highs and the lowest lows since the UFC folded in the WEC’s middleweight talent pool into their organization in 2009.

Sonnen began looking better than ever, he entered the UFC as the uncrowned WEC middleweight kingpin following his victory over Paulo Filho which the Brazilian missed weight thus making their bout a non-title affair.

From there he went on a reign of terror over the UFC’s 185-lbs landscape with four straight victories over some of the top names the UFC had to offer including title challengers Demian Maia and Nate Marquardt which earned him a shot at the most dominate middleweight champ in MMA history, Anderson Silva.

Silva captured the UFC Middleweight crown in 2006 and has defended it a record 13 times stopping a who’s who of anyone game enough to challenge him.

Luckily for Sonnen, his best attribute has always been his mouth and he’s always known how to use it. Sonnen took a fight that had little to no interest when it was announced and made it a must see for the world luring 700,000 people into watching the biggest moment of his career.

For 23 minutes it was almost a fairy tale, the seemingly unstoppable looking as if they were about to be stopped after exposing the defensive wrestling of the champion but with only seconds remaining on the clock Silva threw up a Hail Mary of a triangle choke that shocked the world to once again walk out of with gold around his waist.

And it was all downhill from there for the man who came within inches of dethroning “The Spider” as weeks later the results would come out that he tested positive for a banned substance.

Sonnen explained that he had issues producing testosterone since an early age and was using a replacement supplement.

That’s all fine and dandy but the toxicology reports indicated that Sonnen had large amount of testosterone in his system, up to 20 to 1 while the commission only allows up to 6 to 1.

Both Dan Henderson and Todd Duffee have been given the green light to use testosterone replacement supplements in the past from the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) however only to the permitted 6 to 1.

While Sonnen is praised for being one of the best talkers in the industry, it was his mouth that caused him a world of problems on top of this when he stated he spoke with the executive for NSAC Keith Keizer regarding the issue which Keizer formally denies.

But wait, there’s more! Sonnen also plead guilty to a money laundering charge from his time working as a real estate agent in Portland, Oregon.

According to the release, Sonnen “admitted that a financial transaction he conducted was designed to conceal or disguise the ownership and control of the proceeds of wire fraud.”

Looking to put this all in the past Sonnen stood before the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) this past week and plead his case to be re-instated to compete in their state.

If he was re-instated he would be a coach on the forthcoming season of Spike TV’s hit reality series “The Ultimate Fighter” alongside Britain’s poster boy Michael Bisping with the winner being the top contender for the ten pounds of gold around the waist of Anderson Silva.

Sonnen failed to change the mind of those that mattered in the commission who with a 4-1 vote decided to uphold his license indefinitely.

Sonnens current license expires on June 29th of 2011 however he will have to wait another year before being eligible to apply for a new license.

In June of 2012 Sonnen will be 35 years of age and won’t have competed since August of 2010. By the time he is able to re-apply to compete will he still have the drive to fight?

Personally I think we will see Sonnen compete inside the octagon again despite everything seemingly working against him.

There’s the old saying “Out of sight, out of mind” and for the most part that is true. However, Sonnen is such a captivating talker that even with an extensive lay-off he would be able to keep the audience intrigued and have them counting the days until his return.

By June of 2012 the MMA world will be a whole new game and they better be ready for the return of Chael Sonnen.

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