UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen was granted a therapeutic used exemption for testosterone replacement therapy and is cleared to challenge Anderson Silva at July’s UFC 148 in Las Vegas.
The motion was passed unanimously at a hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission Monday morning. He will take on Silva in the main event of the show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on July 7.
There were a couple minor conditions imposed by the commission. Sonnen, who has been taking TRT since 2008, will take injections for a period of time prior to the event and will need to be tested, at his own expense, the morning after the fight.
The Sonnen-Silva fight, a rematch of an August 2010 bout in Oakland that Silva won by fifth-round submission, was originally scheduled to take place the champion’s native Brazil, but had to be rescheduled due to logistical problems, thus requiring Sonnen to seek the exemption.
Sonnen was suspended six months following the first Silva fight for testing positive for elevated testosterone levels. He was questioned Monday for not disclosing the use of TRT on his pre-fight medical questionnaire (or any others between 2008-2010) and subsequently lying about it to the commission.
Sonnen said his manager at the time, Matt Lindland, told him he had had a conversation with NSAC executive director Keith Kizer and that he had gotten clearance for it under one condition, that he not bring it up again.
“I was following the instruction I was given. I won’t follow that (protocol) again,” said Sonnen, who is no longer managed by Lindland.
Commissioner Pat Lundvall questioned his decision, asking if he thought that was a reasonable thing to do (not to disclose the TRT use on the form).
“You had no qualms about signing your name on this questionnaire, even though you knew the information was inaccurate?” Lundvall asked.
“Correct,” Sonnen said.
Still, the NSAC applauded him for being forthright and straightforward and said he had “paid his dues,” thus recommending the therapeutic use exemption.
The commission went even further, asking if he would be willing to aid them in an advisory role if necessary to deal with TRT issues in the future, to which he said yes.
Sonnen said he has been self-injecting inter-muscularly twice as week ever since he took a physical before a March 2008 fight against Bryan Baker at WEC 33, where the doctor recommended the therapy.
“I had never heard of (TRT), I wasn’t seeking it,” Sonnen said.
Sonnen received the exemption for his last two fights, which took place in Texas and Illinois, and the commission’s final condition was that he submit copies of his fight licence applications in those two states.
