Quote:
court at a Q&A session for UFC Fight Club fans in advance of weigh-ins for Saturday's UFC 133, Sonnen seemed to know the question – "What does he think of them?" – was on its way.
"There's two things you can do," he said. "If somebody does steroids, you can kick him out and throw him away forever. Or, you can just open up an all-steroid league and let the games begin.
"Put it in your body, don't put it in your body, one-on-one, two-on-one, five-on-one, I'll make sure they all need nine-one-one."
But that wasn't the last of questions related to his thoughts on illicit testosterone. Another fan asked simply what happened in California, obviously referencing Sonnen's troubles with the state's athletic commission, which began when he tested positive for elevated levels of the hormone following his unsuccessful bid at champ Anderson Silva's title at UFC 117.
Sonnen didn't miss a beat.
"Well, they elected a liberal as governor. They had no way of knowing because he ran as a Republican, and he bankrupted the state, banged his nanny, had a kid – retired," he said to laughs all around. "Why are you asking me about that? That's a weird question for an MMA event?
"Are you talking about the night that I won the middleweight championship and they tarnished and took it from me after I whipped a man's ass for 25 minutes – he wraps his legs around my head for eight seconds and they declare him the winner? Is that what you're asking me about?
"Because I'll tell you man, it was a scene. It happened in the Bay Area, and that crowd, they were right down the middle. You had every sprite that could sashay across the bridge from San Francisco chanting, 'Anderson, Anderson,' and you had every gangster in Oakland chanting my name. By the end of the night, the sprites and the gangsters had united, and they were all cheering for your man."
By now, that kind of answer can be considered classic Sonnen. But the fighter didn't stop there, even though his management, the UFC, and possibly state regulators would have liked him to have done so.
"Is that what you're talking about?" he prattled on. "Are you talking about the injustice they did to me over the past seven months?
"My phone rings, they call me up and say, 'Chael, your testosterone level is too high.' I say, 'Well, how high was it?' They say, '0.7.' I said, 'What's normal?' They say, '0.6.' I said, 'One-tenth? You're telling me I'm one-tenth higher than the average man? Re-test that – you must have caught me on a low day.'"
"I told them to feast their eyes and fantasize – I offer no apology. That's testosterone, ladies and gentleman. And on top of that, what do you mean, higher than the norm? Who are you comparing me to? The pink t-shirt wearing earring guy I just fought?
"They said, 'Well, Mr. Sonnen, what are you telling us?' I said, 'Isn't it obvious what I'm telling you? Chael Sonnen is too goddamn macho for the standardized testing procedures of the California State Control Board."
Sonnen, of course, was cleared to fight in late June after serving a second, two-plus month suspension issued by the California State Athletic Commission for giving what the commission said was inconsistent statements about his testosterone use, as well as behaving in a manner that represented a dishonor to MMA.
Those are facts on the record. For Sonnen, though, they were little more than a backdrop to rouse the crowd.
Now, if all future Sonnen interviews were preceded by a legal disclaimer, everyone might be a bit more happy.
|
|
