After today, an asterisk gets taken off Chael Sonnen's name.
The onetime middleweight challenger's indefinite suspension from the California State Athletic Commission comes to an end today, and his manager said a meeting tomorrow in Las Vegas will determine the direction of his career.
"We're going to reevaluate it then," Sonnen's manager, Mike Roberts, today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
Sonnen was unavailable for comment at the time of this writing.
The CSAC indefinitely suspended Sonnen this past May for giving what officials determined to be inconsistent statements in a December appeal of a one-year suspension issued in the wake of his UFC 117 loss to Anderson Silva (which was later halved to six months) due to his testosterone-replacement therapy, as well as a felony charge on money laundering. In a second appeal hearing later that month, the commission upheld its ruling by a 4-1 vote.
The decision effectively sacked a job offer for Sonnen to coach opposite Michael Bisping on "The Ultimate Fighter 14." Onetime Strikeforce middleweight title challenger and recent UFC signee Jason "Mayhem" Miller instead got the job, and production began earlier this month.
At the time of the second hearing, Sonnen said the upholding of the suspension would prompt him to retire. But as of late, the fighter has been back to his old ways on his official Twitter account – that is, throwing stones at any target he fancies.
"Axe Murderer, my ass," Sonnen recently tweeted in a swipe at UFC 132 co-headliner Wanderlei Silva, a popular target. "I'm more intimidated by Axe Body Spray."
And late Tuesday night, he made it clear that retirement is the last thing on his mind.
"I can finally get back to the most important thing in my life," wrote Sonnen, who dominated in the Silva fight until the champ pulled off a fifth-round submission. "Defending my middleweight championship."
CSAC Executive Director George Dodd said Sonnen's name will be removed from a national registry of fighters that notes medical and administrative suspensions. If, however, the fighter wants to be licensed again in California, he needs to appear before the commission, and rehabilitation is likely to be the lynchpin of re-licensure.
Interestingly, Dodd also said the CSAC is in the process of finalizing formal language on the state's therapeutic-exemption process for TRT to be added to the commission's current statutes. Additionally, future applicants for an exemption will need to appear before the commission and its newly formed medical advisory committee to evaluate the necessity of using testosterone, a hot topic brought forth by Nate Marquardt's recent admission of prescribed use of the hormone prior to UFC on Versus 4.
As to whether licensees previously flagged for performance-enhancers will be allowed to get an exemption, Dodd said the CSAC will evaluate applications on a case-by-case basis.
Source: UFC fighter Chael Sonnen's suspension ends today