[OFFICIAL] Chael Sonnen Thread - FREE CHAEL

[Super Hans]

http://mmaweekly.com/ufc-fighter-chael-sonnen-pleads-guilty-to-federal-money-laundering-charge


Man things are just going from bad to worse for Chael, could be looking at a maximum of 20 years, will most likely get probation though, whatever happens, its not looking good for his image.

 

[Mekanik Kommandoh]

I'm not overly pleased with this news. I am a fan of Sonnen and feel that he is a great fighter whose personality is perfect for hyping fights. However, it's stuff like this that is starting to make him difficult to defend. I hope that he will just get probation and a fine by pleading guilty and giving up his relater license, but if he does somehow end up in jail, then it's definitely deserved. Stupid, stupid move on his part. If the proposed fight with Sexyama at UFC 128 is scrapped because of this, I'll be pretty disappointed.

 

[SalvIsWin]

The rumor is that as a part of Chael's plea deal, he will pay $10,000 in fines, lose his realtor license, and be put on probation for two years - which considering the maximum penalty, is not too bad. Chael is a master at spindoctoring, so I'm very curious how he's going to turn this around into someone else being confused, or a misunderstanding, etc. Either way, this cements Chael Sonnen as a douchebag. I really liked his trash talk, and the way he would lie about absolutely anything, like his record, his losses, things he had said on his official twitter, things said on the radio, was a bit impressive, but I've lost any respect for him at this point.

Oh, and he's supposed to fight Akiyama two weeks before his sentencing hearing. I'll be interested to see if the UFC still puts that fight on considering this.

 

[Con T.]

I know this may seem like a mere formality tacking on to his guilty plea on money laundering, but nevertheless, I think the issue itself and his career are on two seperate entities. In all fairness, perhaps suspended isn't the right term, so much as it is that his contract was "frozen". Now, in such a case, it would appear that Sonnen's contract is going to be held over until he gets out of prison, should he see any jail time.Apparently he will not, but the fact that they've chosen to "freeze" his contract indicates, at least to me, that UFC has every intention on bringing Chael back sometime soon. When, however, seems to be the issue that no one is aware of. His rumored fight coming up in March can be definitely be taken off the books, at least as far as we can see. Nevertheless, it begs to ask, is the move to freeze Chael Sonnen's contract a good, or a bad thing, for all parties involved? Was this a wise choice to freeze Sonnen's contract with Sonnen, rather than outright releasing him?

My honest belief is that Sonnen can thank his lucky stars that UFC has decided to take this course of action. While it isn't so much of a felony in the grand scheme of things, it surely is something that doesn't look good for UFC. It's not as though UFC needs "good" publicity, really, but then again, it could surely do without the bad publicity, really. But this at least lets people know that Sonnen's career is likely not finished, not even close to it. Sure, he'll likely take a few months of an abscence from the UFC scene, but this move at least assures that Sonnen will likely be returning to fighting, and frankly, I'd expect that this move means he will return sooner than later. This of course White isn't sure of what to do with Chael at this point, other than letting us know he is at least wanted back. That said, is the freezing of Chael's contract a big deal, and if so, was this a wise move?

 

[Mekanik Kommandoh]

I think this move is a fairly big deal, as it tells us a few things. One is that Dana White clearly does not want to let Sonnen go and has enough faith that he'll get his personal issues worked out and get back to competing. Dana can be a harsh fucker, but he obviously still sees use in Sonnen, and how couldn't he?. It also tells us, like you said, that Sonnen's fighting career is likely far from over and, assuming the sentencing tilts in his favor and he avoids jail time, I'd expect he could return by the end of the year, if not sooner.

This was probably the best thing that could have happened to Sonnen. His credibility has taken a couple of hits since the Silva fight and the fact that the UFC is giving him time to get his shit straight is quite the blessing. I'd say it's a pretty wise move on UFC's part too, as Sonnen is the kind of personality they can really market and use effectively if and when he returns. Of course, I'm not sure what the future holds for him, but I'd say that this development leads to a positive outcome for both Sonnen and UFC, so long as Chael avoids jail and gets the expected probation.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Well, Dana has to be thankful for two things right now...

1.) That Anderson beat Chael back at UFC 117.

2.) That Chael got suspended for steroids, which canceled the rematch that was supposed to happen next month.

Imagine if Chael beat Anderson Silva for the title. Not only would he have the steroid issue going on, but the Middleweight Champion would also be someone who committed mortgage fraud, which would have been a huge, huge black eye for the organization. It would be even worse if he had the title shot and this news came out.

That being said, Chael Sonnen absolutely deserves the chance to fight in the UFC still. He's paid his debt to society with the $10,000 fine, and the fact that he can no longer make a living selling houses. Furthermore, he'll have to do 2 years of probation. He's absolutely getting off light here, but he's also in the public eye, which means that people will always judge him negatively, and this issue is always going to come up.

At the end of the day, Chael Sonnen is still the #2 middleweight in the world. He's also a great trash talker and very amusing. He's done what nobody has been able to do to Anderson Silva. Time will pass, and I think he still will be a UFC Champion by the end of his career.

 

[Window Licker 101]

I am a fan of Sonnen but man I'm seriously losing the will to defend his name. After all of us Sonnen fans fought for his pride during the CSAC scandal I feel this is a big slap in the face. He needs to sort his life out. I hope his career is not in the gutter after all this. I agree with GuyCompton about Silva winning was a blessing in disguise.