It is no stranger to anyone who follows The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) that Chael Sonnen likes to talk a lot of trash. In addition to calling out Anderson Silva before his August 7th title fight, he recently took verbal assault on UFC Middleweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar. However, it is his verbal assault on Lance Armstrong that will now have Sonnen linked to Jay Mariotti forever.
Now, for those not familiar with Jay Mariotti, he is a former columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and currently is suspended from his current employer, AOL Fanhouse. Mariotti was a frequent panelist on the ESPN popular TV show “Around the Horn.” Mariotti had a history of bad mouthing everybody, rubbing people the wrong way, and especially calling out athletes who commit domestic violence. Mariotti got caught in his own war of words on August 18th, as he was accused of assaulting his girlfriend. Since then, we have not heard from Mariotti and a trial is pending.
So, that leads me to Sonnen. What did he do to link himself to Mariotti? Sonnen appeared on The Jim Rome Radio Show on August 4th and had some choice words for the former Tour De France winner. “Lance Armstrong did a number of things and he gave himself cancer. He cheated, he did drugs, and he gave himself cancer.” He further added, “Look here’s what I did, I screwed up, and I hope people learn from my mistakes.” Well, maybe Sonnen can use that quote to quote himself here in the coming days.
I had hope that perhaps Sonnen’s test would be false or perhaps caused by taking Nyquil or some over-the-counter cold medicine. Those hopes were dashed according to SI.com. According to an article published today, Sonnen was apparently concerned about the chance of testing positive that he told California State Athletic Commission chair (CSAC) George Dodd he used an illegal performance enhancing drug leading up to the fight. “He only indicated that he was taking it but he never indicated why”, Dodd said of a conversation he had with Sonnen during drug testing a day before the fight.
Chael Sonnen will likely lose an appeal should he request one, as he basically admitted to steroid use to the CSAC. He will likely be suspended for one year by the CSAC (which other states will honor) and a small $2,500 fine. While Sonnen will likely fight again, the bigger thing he loses is his credibility and respect from a lot of his fans and many of his fellow peer fighters. But who is the bigger loser in all of this? Well, the fans of course, who so wanted to see if Sonnen could knock off Silva in his immediate rematch, which will likely never happen.
It is my understanding Chael Sonnen does not have a nickname. Perhaps we should start calling him Chael “Mariotti” Sonnen. I’d love to hear Bruce Buffer say that name the next time he enters The Octagon.
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