(Sonnen throwing a kick? That’s got to be photoshopped.)
Looks like Chael Sonnen’s desire to “clear the air” with the Nevada State Athletic Commission will have to wait a bit longer. According to multiple reports out this week, the UFC middleweight’s late-April meeting with the NSAC was postponed on Wednesday because – get this – his status as a confessed felon prohibits him from traveling to Nevada during the legendary Laughlin River Run motorcycle rally. Apparently, this comes as a result of an obscure Nevada law designed to help curb violence between biker gangs, after a wild 2002 brawl and shoot-’em-up between the Mongols and Hells Angels left three dead inside Harrah’s Casino.
Man, we would’ve loved to see Sonnen’s face when his probation officer called to give him the news. For some reason, the whole the idea of Chael Sonnen having a PO just tickles us to death and the fact that his legal status now lumps him in with your average Gypsy Joker, Warlock and Pagan is particularly hilarious. Knowing what we know about Sonnen, we’re betting the recent loss of some of his previously inalienable rights as an American citizen really burns his ass.
Fortunately for him, felons are still allowed to vote in Oregon as long as they’re not currently incarcerated. Unfortunately, as far as we know the card-carrying Republican will hence forth be banned from holding down governmental jobs, so it looks like his dreams of one-day representing his West Linn constituents in the Oregon state house are over. If you happen to be a lawyer in Oregon and any of the above is incorrect, drop us a line in the comments section.
More to the point, it means he’ll have to sit in contractual limbo for at least a few more weeks, until he finally gets his chance to appear in front of the commission. When he does, it is believed a number of issues – including his testosterone replacement therapy and some “misstatements” he made about Executive Director Keith Kizer – will all be at issue. If the NSAC buys Sonnen’s story, it’ll likely mean his UFC career will resume post haste. If the commission thinks Sonnen might be full of shit and refuses to license him? Well, we don’t know what happens then, but it’s probably not good.
Heart of hearts? We fully expect Sonnen to at some point get re-licensed by the NSAC, or at least figure a way to resume his career inside the Octagon. There is just too much money, industry pressure and expectation riding on it for a deal not to be made. Still, he’s going to have to get right with Kizer who – last we checked – sounded none too pleased with him. In closing, we offer this quote from the NSAC director about Sonnen’s “word choice” regarding alleged conversations with Kizer the official claims did not happen. Why? Just because it always makes us smile to read it.
“(Sonnen’s) point was, ‘Well, you and I have never talked before right now, but I don’t think I lied,’” Kizer said. “Then he gave some very strange story and claimed, ‘My manager and you talked about therapeutic exemptions, and therefore, I just used the wrong word. I should have said ‘my’ instead of ‘I.’ As in ‘my manager’ instead of ‘I.’ I was very straight with him, saying, ‘That’s a ridiculous explanation.’”
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How come cagepotato let’s random non-journalists publish articles like this?
No objective journalist (and remember, being objective is fundamental to being a journalist) would release and obviously biased piece like this.
It’s actually beyond the point of being absurd.