Chael Sonnen Speaks About Failed Drug Test (Video)

Sonnen on if he told the UFC what he was taking: “I wouldn’t be dealing with the UFC officials [on this issue]. This would be between me and the [Nevada State Athletic] Commission and no, I had no opportunity to go before the Commission. I had not spoken to them. The only opportunity you’re ever given to disclose a medication that you’re on is in competition when the State of Nevada comes to you, you do have a form that you can fill out. This was out-of-competition. This was done by a separate lab known as USADA. It’s the finest lab in the world. But these were also strangers. This was not the Nevada Commission that came to me and there was no attempt to have a disclosure form. But even if I had disclosed it, you have to understand this was out of competition and an athlete does not have to remain off of medication 365 days a year. Not in the NCAA, not in the IOC and not even with the Nevada State Athletic Commission; this is unprecedented. As an athlete, if I break my arm and the doctor gives me Vicodin, Vicodin is extremely illegal on fight night, but it’s also an extremely appropriate medicine to cure somebody’s pain if he has a broken arm, and the message that they are sending here is completely wrong.”

Sonnen on if the substance he took was on the banned list: “Yes, it is on the banned list. But you have to understand, that’s for competition. If this was game day, I would not be making any of these statements I’m making to you right now. On game day, you have to come in right. But out of competition, an athlete cannot take an anabolic, he cannot take a performance-enhancer and he cannot take a steroid. The former executive director has many quotes out there that I will bring in to the Commission when I appeal this thing, stating that there is a significant difference between game day and the other 364 days of the year.”

Sonnen on if he’ll appeal: “Absolutely.”

Sonnen on why he took what he took: “I took, under the care of a physician, a perfectly legal medication that is not a performance-enhancer. In fact, one of them is an estrogen blocker that blocks a hormone, even though it’s a female hormone.”

Sonnen on his transition off of testosterone: “I had to take these drugs because they banned testosterone. So to be in compliance, you have to stop with testosterone. Now there’s a transition phase, to come off of testosterone healthily. I have a legitimate medical need for testosterone. I was not an abuser. I was a user of testosterone. So when you come off of this and you have a medical need, you must transition. What you’ll take is Clomiphene and HCG. I took Clomiphene and HCG. This also serves as a fertility drug. That was an accident. I was having fertility issues. That’s not part of my life that I wanted to share with anybody else. And we had success. I took these substances. They’re not illegal and not performance enhancing.”