Issue 111

February 2014

In this month...the history of mixed martial arts retold through the pages from FO’S archives - February 2011

Back in 2011 you wouldn’t have guessed then-disgraced Chael Sonnen would land on his feet

Considering Chael Sonnen’s predicament three years ago, you’d never have thought the UFC middleweight would be carving a niche for himself as a sports pundit on mainstream US television in 2014. It’s a long about-face that has seen the rise of one of the UFC’s best TV personalities and the biggest drugs debate in MMA history.

When issues of Fighters Only hit shelves in February 2011 we were reporting on a series of dire situations for the sharp-tongued Sonnen that had culminated in the suspension of his UFC contract.

Following Sonnen’s fifth-round triangle choke loss to Anderson Silva at August 2010’s UFC 117, in a fight he had been dominating, drugs tests showed Sonnen’s testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio was several times the permissible limit – a 12-month suspension and small fine was his punishment. Between that September announcement, and Sonnen’s early December appeal in front of the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) many assumed the challenger had used steroids.

But at the hearing Sonnen explained the ratio was the result of taking synthetic testosterone as part of then-unknown testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) used to treat hypogonadism – a condition that meant he didn’t produce enough of the hormone naturally. Sonnen argued he had been granted permission to use the therapy for previous UFC bouts and had assumed he didn’t need to formally request to do the same again. The CSAC halved Sonnen’s suspension to six months, feeling the positive drugs test was caused by a failure to disclose information rather than an attempt to gain an unfair advantage.

Association with performance-enhancing drugs has been enough to stunt plenty of athletic careers. But, in January 2011, another issue rocked Sonnen’s reputation: pleading guilty to money laundering. As we reported at the time: “(Sonnen) submitted a false letter to a mortgage broker instructing it to pay a plumbing company for work to a home. In fact, Sonnen had agreed with a third party the money would instead be passed on to the house buyers.” He was fined $10,000 and given two years’ probation. The UFC decided to freeze the Oregonian’s contract.

To make matters worse, the CSAC then elected to reverse its decision to halve Sonnen’s suspension to six months, both due to his recent conviction and the contesting of his December assertion that he’d previously been allowed to use TRT. He wouldn’t fight again until October 2011, submitting Brian Stann with an arm triangle choke at UFC 136.

Through all this, TRT and its many ethical talking points have never been far from the headlines. Popular opinion is still split as to whether this treatment is fair medication or an unjust performance booster. But what has become inarguable is a TRT exemption now being perceived as commonplace. 

Despite all the controversy, Chael is now a primary on-screen figure for the UFC and its TV home, Fox. He turned screen time on ESPN show MMA Live into a similar pundit role on the UFC’s Fox broadcasts. Network executives apparently adored the wrestler’s smooth on-screen work and bumped him up to present UFC Tonight with Kenny Florian and even placed him on Fox Sports 1’s Fox Sports Live. Should he want it, a very promising television career will follow the 36-year-old’s retirement.

It was all so different in 2011. Three years is a very long time in mixed martial arts.

NOSTRADAMMAUS: 

BOYS FROM BRAZIL

We’re not saying we predicted one of the biggest surges in interest in MMA since Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar got their TUF on, but we kind of did. Brazil’s embracing of the sport since 2011 has seen big brands dip their sponsorship toes into the game in the samba state, and, in some cases, international deals too. In our look at MMA in Brazil at the time we said: “With the blast of awareness the UFC’s mega-bucks move into Brazilian territory will bring, the country’s MMA future is blindingly bright.” Several new superstars and a surge of blue-chip investment later…

Elsewhere in the February 2011 issue

BEST LAID PLANS

“I want to go in there and outbox him,” Junior Dos Santos told us three years ago about a prospective first bout with Cain Velasquez, “but I know he’s going to try and take me down. I (am) training hard on my wrestling, training to better my wrestling skills and takedown defense so that if I am taken down I will be able to work against Cain on the ground.” It worked in their first fight – later that year with a 64-second KO – but not in the last two five-round drubbings at the hands of the Mexican American.

DEBATE TEAM

Sick of the frequent judging injustices done in the name of the Unified Rules? So was the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC) three years ago when it was decided the half-point judging system (marginal rounds get a more reflective 10-9.5, and so on) would be trialed in all amateur bouts in California. 

Unfortunately, the results didn’t convince the ABC to continue it in the state or anywhere else. Perhaps the controversial St Pierre-Hendricks decision could have been very different if that wasn’t the case.

‘THE MAX MURDERER’

UFC featherweight Maximo Blanco was so dominant in Japan under the Sengoku banner prior to his stint with the Las Vegas promotion that fans started calling him ‘The Max Murderer’ – of course a pun on Pride fan favorite Wanderlei Silva’s ‘Axe Murderer’ moniker. Naturally, FO was first among the Western press to really dedicate some column inches to the Venezuelan. And didn’t we just; the young wrestler-boxer got six pages.