In a candid new interview on the ‘Talk Is Jericho’ podcast, recently retired UFC fighter Chael Sonnen confesses that he did get caught cheating, or as he puts it, “game the system.”
“I didn’t think I’d be tested for another 44 days,” Sonnen said of the UFC 175 pre-fight drugs test that resulted in him being caught with a number of illegal substances in his system. “I tried to game the system.
“I was hit on a surprise test that was 44 days before a fight. Generally in our business we’re tested fight night, so whatever it is you’re doing or you’re not doing, you gotta show up clean on fight day. When I talk about being dirty, I’m not talking about steroids or illegal drugs. I gotta make this distinction, if you ever failed a drug test, you are automatically taking something illegal and they were steroids, that’s just the way it works in people’s minds. Well, first off, none of them were illegal, and none of them were steroids, but I never offered a defense. I turned in my prescriptions. I got this from the doctor, this was valid stuff, but, these are still against the rules, I knew it.”
As well as being suspended from MMA competition for two years Sonnen also lost his prominent broadcasting deal with FOX as a result of his failed drug tests, but it sounds like he may still harbor a hope of returning to that someday, stating that, “Things change pretty quickly. People are forgiving when you’re honest.”
In the mean time Sonnen hasn’t stopped rocking the boat, competing just this past weekend at the Metamoris 4 grappling event in L.A despite being warned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission that doing so would violate the terms of his suspension and could result in him being fined $250,000 for each of his failed drug tests.
That may now result in a legal battle as Sonnen believes that a grappling tournament doesn’t fall under the terms of his suspension, but as for the actual bout itself, the 37 year-old ended up tapping out by rear-naked choke submission to BJJ ace Andre Galvao.
Listen to Sonnen’s full interview on the Talk Is Jericho podcast with Sonnen HERE.
