UFC's Chael Sonnen: The MMA Fighter's Highs and Lows

Chael Sonnen is a UFC Fighter, a former political candidate in the State of Oregon running for State Representative in District 37 as a Republican, and is also a disgraced Realtor who has had his license revoked.

Through it all Chael has brought us along with him, we have watched with bated breath at every moment of his long history as a fighter, a man, so charismatic, it is hard to ignore him.

This is the story of his time as a fighter.

High : The UFC

Right off the bat, the UFC might seem an odd choice. Chael accomplished a lot before the UFC, there can be no doubt, but this was the first achievement that would shove Chael into the spotlight.

The UFC is undeniably the big show, for a lot of fighter's the vindication of long hours of training and sacrifice.

Chael was brought into the UFC to face Renato Sobral at UFC 55. Sobral was making a great name for himself and the fight was placed on the main card for all the Pay-Per-View buyers to see.

This was the start of Chael's journey to becoming the high profile fighter we know today.

Low: Losing To Jeremy Horn...Yet Again...

Chael can do nothing but tap

Jeremy Horn beats Chael for a third time.

This time by armbar in the second round of their fight at UFC 60. This conclusively ending a trilogy of fights, all of which Horn won. Horn proved that he could always beat Chael.

This prompted Chael to be released by the UFC.

High: WEC Debut, Fight Will Be For Championship

Chael was brought into the WEC to fight recently crowned middleweight champion Paulo Fihlo at WEC 31. This meant a return to the Zuffa brand for Chael, which had just purchased WEC the year before.

This was a great opportunity for Chael to make a big impression and become a top middleweight.

But it was never going to be easy beating the undefeated Judo and Brazilian Jujitsu blackbelt and the fight caused Chael the first major controversy of his career...

Low: Losing The Title Fight And the Verbal Submission Controversy

Sometimes there are moments in MMA when a referee mistakes something for a submission that is not, a yell maybe, an accidental movement of the arm.

Sometimes, on the other hand, a fighter purposefully does something ambiguous, knowing the referee will stop the fight and that they will then be able to deny tapping.

Sonnen claimed in a post-fight interview he had never submitted, (though he later said in interview that the referee made a fair call.)

However after this fight no-one knew which had occurred, but either way, a rematch was deemed the only solution... 

High: Winning Rematch With Paulo Filho, Assimilation Into The UFC

Despite Paulo Filho coming in a lot heavier than Sonnen, causing the fight to be classified as a non-tile bout, Chael still pulled off the Unanimous decision win, quite decisively might I add.

Riding high on a win over the WEC Champion, Chael Sonnen joined the rest of the middleweight roster in the assimilation into the UFC. 

Low: Loss To Demian Maia

Sonnen's first match-up was with the then undefeated Demian Maia, a Brazilian Jujitsu black-belt who had by that time won the ADCC World Submission Wrestling Championships and more Brazilian Jujitsu trophies than you could shake a stick at.

It was a tough challenge for Sonnen, who in the end was overpowered by Demian Maia and quickly finished off with a triangle choke in the first round.

High: One Very Important Three Win Streak

Dan Miller, Yushin Okami and Nate Marquadt

After his bad start to 2009, Chael thoroughly redeemed himself, first by replacing Yushin Okami on short notice to beat Dan Miller by Unanimous decision at UFC 98.

Then by beating Okami the same way at UFC 104 in Los Angeles. Chael was the clear victor in both fights, beating down two big names in the middleweight division.

He then began 2010 the right way, by defeating Nate Marquardt in a good contest, which was UFC 109's Fight of the Night, securing his place in the number one contender spot.

High: The Number-One Contendership

Has anyone else ever milked a title shot like Chael Sonnen?

Turning on the TV you would've though he just sat in a chair all day with a microphone in his face, talking some of the best trash you'd ever heard.

No matter what the illusion, that guy was training hard, he was determined, the spotlight was on him, he was coming, the great conqueror, to end the reign of the dancing Champion and bring on a new age.

How could you not have got rapped up in it all, if you disagreed with him or agreed it didn't matter, Chael Sonnen made fantastic viewing.

High: The First 23 Minutes Of The Title Fight

Can you imagine the power Chael must have felt he had as he kneeled over one of the most dominant UFC Champions ever and completely demolished him?

He was living up to everything he said he would do, it was crazy.

It was those feelings that made it one of the best fights of the year. The mix of growing resentment in certain circles for Anderson and the hype Sonnen brought to the table got everyone carried away, it was glorious.

Low:The Triangle Armbar

Then, one of Anderson's triangle attempts took hold.

Suddenly, as though we'd only just remembered who Anderson Silva was, winning a fight in which he had been thoroughly dominated became a real possibility.

So Anderson won the fight and the hype train got derailed.

Upset men worldwide tore up their betting slips in fury and we watched as Chael Sonnen in the post-fight interview, a beaten man who could have been so much more if not for two minutes and a champion's persistent hope which had managed to rob it all from him.

Low: The Steroid Allegation

Many fans were disillusioned with Chael, while others adopted the slogan I believe in Sonnen

It was revealed shortly after the fight that Chael Sonnen had tested positive for Performance Enhancing Drugs in his pre-fight drug test.

The option of an immediate rematch was suddenly shaken by a suspension that was sure to ensue from the athletic commission. Sonnen was given a one-year suspension plus a $2,500 fine.

Numerous reports came out in the days following which claimed that he was on a variety of different medication, it was difficult to know which ones were accurate and which were lies.

High: Hearing, Sentence Reduction, Sonnen Vindicated

News soon came out that Sonnen would be appealing the suspension and that the hearing would be available to watch on a free online stream.

Thousands of people logged on to watch the hearing, where it was disclosed that Sonnen never tested out of normal range and that while his testosterone was unnatural, his testosterone level was not.

His doctor appeared at the hearing to explain that due to a condition Chael had all his life, he needed to use drugs which boosted the testosterone level. It also became clear that Chael had notified a member of the commission, just the incorrect one.

Apart from a slight odd moment where Chael claimed Keith Kizer Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission said something Kizer vehemently denies, what had been a PED scandal of massive proportions now seemed just like a matter of Chael not following the right procedures.

Chael was essentially vindicated and a large portion of his suspension was revoked. Suddenly he was back on TV telling us all about it and was set up to fight Yoshihiro Akiyama in March.

Low: Money Laundering Scandal

Just when he seemed to be getting back on track, Sonnen was accused of money laundering and he pled guilty to the charge. 

Sonnen was acting as the real estate agent in a transaction involving a home in Portland, Oregon, and submitted a fake letter and sales agreement telling the title company to pay out $69,000 to a contractor for plumbing.

However, in a deal arranged by Lighthouse employees, $65,000 of the money was actually returned to the buyer.

Federal prosecutors claim that the Lighthouse employees who worked within Crown Point Enterprises, a mortgage brokerage service based principally in Vancouver, Washington, Chadwhick Amsden and Joel Rosabal, submitted the false loan application to a now-defunct sub-prime lender.

The sentencing is scheduled on March 28, 2011 at 11:30 a.m.

Chael Sonnen's UFC contract has been frozen following the guilty plea.

Future: More Highs Or More Lows

By pleading guilty, Chael has probably saved himself a lot of time in prison—if he gets any at all. His sentence will be significantly less severe than the 2 year prison sentence that many reported he might be facing when news of the charges came out. 

Dana White has said that he just wants Chael to get his personal life back together before he comes back into the UFC and has not turned his back on him.

His training partner Matt Lindland has even gone as far as to say he believes this experience will make Chael a tougher guy, which may help him in the cage.

Therefore we can expect to see him back in the Octagon eventually, but whatever happens, I'll be expecting plenty more Highs and Lows in Chael Sonnen's life.

Hopefully more Highs than Lows.