Chael Sonnen's suspension nears midpoint; will he return when it's over?

[The Great Cochrane]

Sunday will mark the anniversary of Chael Sonnen's first of two failed drug tests administered by the Nevada Athletic Commission.

And with the two-year suspension issued by the commission last July nearing its midpoint, the debate is on as to whether the veteran fighter will attempt to make a comeback come the middle of NEXT year.

ACCORDINGto MMAFighting.com's Ariel Helwani, Sonnen's managers are split on whether he'll return to the sport. On Wednesday's edition of UFC Tonight, it was REPORTED that one of Sonnen's managers, Mike Roberts, is convinced he'll return, while his other manager, Jeff Meyer, is skeptical.

Sonnen, who will be 39 when his suspension is finished, would have to appear before the NAC to have his license reinstated, if he choose to make a comeback. Sonnen not only failed the May 24 random test leading up to what was supposed to be a UFC 175 match against Wanderlei Silva, but also a follow-up test on June 5.

Sonnen announced his retirement from MMA following the first test results, then lost his JOB as a FOX Sports 1 analyst after the second test failure was revealed.

Author: Dave Doyle (@davedoylemma)

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Personally I would love to see Chael Sonnen return to the UFC, as a fighter or not. He was easily one of the most recognized personalities in the sport even if sometimes I didn't all that agree with everything he said. The sport needs more showmen like him without a doubt, and even though his feud with Anderson Silva was what got him some publicity as a loud mouth. Unless he has genuine animosity with the guys, he's usually pretty respectful of opponents and fighters in general. But when he gets going, it's fuckin' funny as hell to listen to :

And btw, although I know Chael's base is wrestling he is far from mono fighter which plagues some past generation wrestlers that transitioned into MMA. Like Jon Fitch of Jake Shields.

 

[Austin Bates]

What is a mono fighter?

I think Chael was on Talk Is Jericho and he sounded pretty cool. So I think I'd like to see him return for selfish reasons.

 

[The Great Cochrane]

What is a mono fighter?

I think Chael was on Talk Is Jericho and he sounded pretty cool. So I think I'd like to see him return for selfish reasons.

Mono fighter refers to when a fighter relies solely on one part of their game, like all Jon Fitch ever does is try to take a guy down and lay on top of him for 15 minutes. But it can't just be a wrestler, there's a heavyweight in Bellator named Lavar Johnson who has a very one dimensional game plan, all he does is back people up against the fence and swings those big uppercuts.

And Chael is definitely a good showman, he definitely will appeal to the pro wrestling fan who wishes to watch MMA such as yourself. You should also take a look at Conor McGregor if you like pro wrestling style match promos, I'm more of a fan of his fighting but I have to admit that the things he says are quite entertaining.

He's also Irish, which kinda suprises me why Dave doesn't talk about him that much. But then again, it's not like he knows him personally or anything.