Sonnen (photo) is still waiting for permission to face Shogun in ten days. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
Chael Sonnen has a fight scheduled against Mauricio Shogun within ten days. However, it is still not guaranteed that the light heavyweight will step into the Octagon in Boston. This is because he has not yet received authorization from the local athletic commission to perform at UFC Fight Night 26.
This Thursday, members of the Massachusetts State Boxing Commission (MSBC) will meet to determine whether Sonnen's license will be granted. The reason: the testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) that the athlete is undergoing.
“The commissioners are going to sit down and bang the hammer on the issue,” Terrel Harris, spokesperson for the Massachusetts state Department of Public Safety, which controls MSBC, told MMAjunkie. “When they make the final decision, they will let everyone know what it was. The point is that this must be done soon, because the fight is a week after Saturday.”
The meeting was forced by a tip received by the Department of Public Security. However, the complaint did not target Sonnen's TRT, but his guilt in a federal money laundering crime more than two years ago. Still according to Harris, “the commission has the right to deny your license based on guilt about 'moral turpitude'.”
When contacted by MMAjunkie, the UFC refused to comment on the situation and Chael Sonnen did not respond to several calls made.
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