When news emerged via TMZ that Chael Sonnen was facing five charges of battery following an incident in Las Vegas, very little was clear about the fight. Details are still emerging, but according to police, the alleged fight involved Sonnen and five victims. His five battery citations were one apiece for each opponent in the altercation.
Las Vegas Police Public Information Officer Larry Hadfield wrote a statement for MMAFighting.com providing some clarity on the situation.
Chael Sonnen Allegedly Battered Five Separate Victims in Vegas Altercation
““Sonnen was issued a battery citation for each individual victim, then escorted off property. Due to the fact the misdemeanors were committed outside of a police officer’s presence, an arrest was not conducted.”
Chael Sonnen was best known during his fighting career as one of the finest trash talkers ever to grace the UFC. His dominant wrestling-based style saw him scale the rankings, eventually fighting Anderson Silva not once but twice.
Although both fights ended in stoppage losses for Sonnen, he performed remarkably well against a man who is widely considered one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. The later years of Sonnen’s MMA career were controversial, including two failed drug tests, after which he retired.
After retiring from competition, Sonnen took to commentary, working for ESPN, founding his own submission wrestling competition, and starting a YouTube channel. Chael Sonnen typically keeps his nose clean outside the Octagon, but has faced legal issues relating to fraud and money laundering.
Perhaps his most famous non-competitive fight – apart from his whooping spree in Vegas over the weekend – was an on-screen brawl with Wanderlei Silva on the set of The Ultimate Fighter. Silva took exception to Chael Sonnen’s trash talk on the show, and instigated a fight that quickly spilled over.
Teammates separated the pair, they were reprimanded by Dana White, and eventually Chael and Silva fought one another in the Bellator promotion, which Sonnen won via decision.
This time around, Chael Sonnen, aged forty-four and over six feet tall, allegedly fought five different people. Witnesses claim the retired fighter easily manhandled his opposition, as one would expect from a former professional. Because no police officers were present to witness the alleged incident, Sonnen was not arrested, but he was cited with five separate counts of battery.
It’s not clear what caused the incident, but video of Sonnen leaving the hotel shirtless in handcuffs has emerged. One witness claims to have seen the former fighter pounding on the door of a hotel room at the Four Seasons.
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