Chael Sonnen, I Hope It Was Worth It

I want to start this by saying that I do not think Chael Sonnen is alone. Like in all professional sports, performance enhancers (P.E.s) cast a dark shadow. It would be very naive to think that Chael is the only MMA fighter who uses P.E.s. Due to limited testing, fighters can get away with cycling, as long as they are off cycle when their fights come around. So while Chael most certainly has company, he is stands by himself in one regard. Chael Sonnes is the only guy who failed a steroid test right after a career making fight.

Even in losing, Chael Sonnen was probably the biggest winner to come out of UFC 117. Sure he lost his fight with Anderson Silva, but he did dominate that fight for 4 and 1/2 rounds. He put a hurting on a fighter who had not even been in danger in a fight in over 3 years. He set the single fight UFC for connected strikes with 289 (credit wrestling observer 9/27/10). He had already secured a re-match with Silva where he very well could have been the heavy crowd favorite. Most certainly, it would have been his biggest career pay day.

Now baring a reversal (and there have been no reversals with the California Athletic Commission, just ask Sean Sherk), Sonnen will be out of action for a year. Any momentum gained by his epic encounter with Silva is gone. No one will ever forget that he tested positive for steroids after his career outing. Now, the lasting memory will be that he cheated, and it was the steroids that enabled him to preform at the level he did. A level, mind you, that Sonnen had never achieved before in his career.

There are no winners in this situation. Sonnen risked his future earnings (probably two fights, baring injury over the course of a year) on the off chance that he would get by the test. The real issue is, why did he risk using steroids (and why didn't he get off them sooner)? Did he feel that he needed a little something extra in order to hang with Silva?

In a perfect world fighters would be randomly tested, year round. However, that is not happening anytime soon, if for no other reason that the UFC would have to foot that bill. Performance enhancers are a problem in every sport, we as fans can only be left to wonder. We don't know for sure who is clean and who is dirty. As long as guys fail tests, we will assume that others are using as well.

The end result is a guy who looked like a break out star in 2010, is out of the picture till late 2011. Sonnen is going to be 34 when his suspension ends, that's not over the hill, but his time is limited. I don't want to kick the guy when he is down, but he alone is responsible for his actions. He got caught and and this is going to cost him money, status and credibility.

I hope it was worth it Chael.