Prosecutors drop felony battery charge against Chael Sonnen in Las Vegas hotel incident but misdemeanor charges remain

Chael Sonnen had his felony battery charge dropped in court on Wednesday.

Sonnen was facing 11 charges including 10 misdemeanor charges of battery and one felony charge of battery by strangulation, stemming from an incident at a hotel in Las Vegas. Originally, it was reported Sonnen was defending his wife but recently, reports came out that the former UFC fighter attacked citizens unprovoked which resulted in injuries. The lawsuit came months after five misdemeanor battery charges against Sonnen were “dismissed by the court without prejudice.”

Now, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal, the prosecutors dropped the felony charge against Sonnen but are still continuing on with the 10 misdemeanor charges.

“I believe that’s exactly what happened, and they realized that the more appropriate way to move forward would be with this amended complaint,” Sonnen’s defense attorney, Dayvid Figler said.

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Although the felony charge has now been dropped, Kory Kaplan, who represents the Stellpflugs, says the felony charge is something they were told was appropriate.

“After the charges were filed, they were contacted by a deputy district attorney who confirmed that felony charges were appropriate,” Kaplan said during the hearing.

Chael Sonnen will be due in court on April 27 and has still not publicly commented on these incidents. Given it will be in front of a judge in court, it makes sense he is staying private on this matter until the legal process is over.

Chael Sonnen retired from MMA following his knockout loss to Lyoto Machida in June of 2019. He ended his career with a pro record of 31-17-1 and came up short three times in his quest for UFC gold. In his career, he holds notable wins over Michael Bisping, Shogun Rua, Wanderlei Silva, Rampage Jackson, and Nate Marquardt, among others.

What do you make of the prosecutors dropping the felony battery charge against Chael Sonnen?