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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen will appear before the California State Athletic Commission on Thursday to appeal his failed steroid test stemming from his August bout with Anderson Silva at UFC 117.
Sonnen, represented by attorney Howard Jacobs, will attempt to reduce the current one year suspension and $2,500 fine imposed upon him for the failed test. Jacobs has represented numerous high profile athletes in doping cases, including MMA fighters Sean Sherk and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva.
More information has come to light this week on the status of the CSAC's case against Sonnen, as the agenda for Thursday's meeting in Sacramento, Calif. has been released and features the Commission's documentation of the matter.
Included in the released documents is Sonnen's pre-fight questionnaire, in which he revealed to the commission supervisor at the event that he had taken "1 shot" of testosterone just two days before the event. His urine sample was taken the same day as the questionnaire was completed, August 6, and Sonnen's sample was sent to the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory.
The lab provided documentation as to the chain of custody and integrity of the sample tested, including the dates the sample was received and tested on by the lab. They also provided extensive data from the tests of the sample themselves to back up the findings, and all of the documentation was released in the agenda for the meeting.
Sonnen's testosterone to epitestosterone ratio (T/E) was shown to be at a highly elevated level in the initial test, as well as a subsequent carbon isotope analysis used to follow up on the positive result. While the allowed T/E ratio threshold is 4.0/1, Sonnen's test revealed a 16.9/1 ratio, seventeen times that of the normal level produced by the human body. The lab's findings stated that the results were "consistent with the administration of a steroid."
Sonnen's year long suspension went into effect on September 2, and should his appeal fail the suspension runs until that date in 2011.
Penick's Analysis: Sonnen's options for defense are very limited with the admission of administering testosterone days before the fight in August. A rumored defense of his testosterone use being for prescribed testosterone replacement therapy has hit a snag, as Nevada State Athletic Commissioner Keith Kizer informed multiple outlets that Sonnen had not gotten the exemption for TRT in either of his last two fights in Nevada, including his UFC 109 bout against Nate Marquardt that preceded his title shot. I just can't see what defense he can use to legitimately convince the commission to reduce the suspension, but that information will come when he pleads his case on Thursday.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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