Chell Sonnen believes Conor McGregor’s anti-doping suspension is not what it really is.
No doubt Sonnen believes McGregor’s 18-month suspension (backdated to September 2024 with re-eligibility by March 2025) is justified, but he wonders if the former two-division UFC champion took advantage of the system to avoid a higher suspension and perhaps more serious public embarrassment.
Sonnen is no stranger to spreading gossip when it comes to the drama surrounding drug testing of athletes. Famously, Sonnen often repeated a story that UFC star Jon Jones once hid under a cage to avoid a drug test, a story later corroborated by Jones (though Jones claimed it was because he tested positive for marijuana, not performance-enhancing drugs). He now suggests McGregor may also have chosen flight over failure.
“Every dog gets bitten at least once,” Sonnen said on YouTube. “Everyone gets a pass. There’s a very literal reason why there are three strikes in a calendar year. Everyone is allowed to make mistakes. For example, everyone is allowed to fall asleep. Maybe it comes at some time of the day. No matter what your excuse is, you don’t even have to share it. Three times in 12 months when your only job is to tell them where you are is in some ways too much. You’re not accused of drugs. You are not being accused of anything other than administrative and administrative matters here. Three times in 12 months you have not told us where you are. And I think for anyone who has a team this sophisticated, they’ve told us where they are. I think the agent was in the right place. This is exactly what happened in Jon Jones’ infamous story in the ring. It’s a completely true story. They showed up where he said he wasn’t ready for the test, and he went under the ring. It’s a very true story and not folklore.
“And my imagination of what happened here with Connor is very similar. It’s a guess, but I’m just saying I believe this person lived this life, I believe they knew where he was. I believe it was updated accurately. He was intentional. That’s my belief. I’m not too upset about that. I don’t blame Connor too much. I share some of the psychology that happens to Connor.” To stay one step ahead. It’s a great show until the end. ”
In addition to Sonnen’s drug testing experience, he also has his own sordid history with performance-enhancing drugs. He admitted to using the drug and tested positive multiple times. McGregor’s suspension was not due to a positive test, but rather three whereabouts violations in which he was scheduled to be tested but was not found.
In Sonnen’s opinion, McGregor has a busy lifestyle, but an athlete of his stature would have arranged his schedule to ensure he never accidentally exchanged signals with a tester.
“There’s no pretend world where Connor’s schedule is so busy that he forgets to update,” Sonnen said. “And his life is going to be more hectic and hectic than a lot of people can imagine. Sometimes he’s in three different states in the same week. Sometimes he’s in two different countries in the same week. Sometimes he’s on two different continents in the same week. By the way, I We know that because we’ve seen it. He’s a guy who’s on the go, with cameras everywhere he goes, whether he’s working in television or bringing us things on social media. His place is going to be more complicated than most.” If not, there are still teams running them.
“He doesn’t suddenly get on a plane. The team arranges for him to get on a plane. Actually, how is he going to get on a plane? The team helps arrange that transportation. What hotel is he going to stay in? Connor doesn’t ask for recommendations for a place to stay after he lands. For example, they’re all set by the team.”
Rather, Sonnen imagines that McGregor’s leaders are just as confused as everyone else about the possibility of their client missing multiple scheduled drug tests. The length of his suspension has also raised eyebrows, with McGregor scheduled to become eligible in March, three months before the June UFC White House card he had previously announced he would compete in.
“From a Conner team standpoint, there’s no one on Conner’s team that gets fired,” Sonnen said. “I don’t think anyone was not diligent. I don’t think anyone made a mistake. I don’t think anyone got fired, I don’t think anyone got a caution, and I don’t think anyone made a mistake. I think everyone filled out the paperwork correctly. Exact airline, exact city, state, country, and exact hotel.”
“But they’ll ask, ‘Why?'” They’ll turn to the client and say, “Why?” Why couldn’t they find you? Why didn’t they test you? Why did something like this happen on this day, and four months after we talked about it, did it happen again the next day?” That’s one of those spots. I don’t know how Connor will handle it. ”