C. Sonnen (photo) could return to MMA. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
Now free from the doping suspension he received in 2014, Chael Sonnen admits that he is considering the possibility of returning to MMA in the future. However, this depends on the results of the tests he has already taken in recent months, which he confesses is not sure he will pass.
Two years ago, Sonnen was suspended from MMA after being caught in a series of surprise drug tests before his fight at UFC 175. At the time, the loudmouth also announced his retirement from the sport. However, as he did not formally notify USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency), the UFC's official partner, of his decision, he had to undergo the random tests normally carried out on athletes.
“I would definitely like to have that option [to return to MMA]. The big question is this: having the option. I believe that my career in MMA is over, and I'm being honest. But these days I don't even have the option. I would only be able to return with a license, and I need to pass [the exams] to get it. So I wish I had the ability to choose. I took some substances that still remain in the body for a while. I took two tests, but I still don't know what they will say. I can tell you in the most frank and direct way: I’m not sleeping very well at night”, he said, in an interview with the podcast “The MMA Hour”.
At 39 years old, Sonnen sees the drug test as the only obstacle to his likely return. “I definitely feel an itch. I fantasize about it. But it's one step at a time. First, I need to pass this test. If I pass, great, one step less. The second step is to get in shape – and I am. The third step is to become the baddest guy in the world. I dominated the middleweight category. There has never been a middleweight like me. The closest was Anderson Silva, and I won two rounds 10 to 8 against Anderson. That's the truth. There is no one like me in the middleweight division”, he teased.
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