When Chael Sonnen called himself the best drug cheat of his era

Chael Sonnen [Image courtesy of @sonnench Instagram video]

Back in June 2019, Chael Sonnen once again left fans shocked with his brutal honesty about cheating in MMA. Sonnen failed drug tests during his MMA career and has made no secret of his use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).

The former UFC star was offended after being called the "worst" drug cheat of his era. Instead, Sonnen wanted to be referred to as the "best" drug cheat of his time. He took to Twitter and wrote:

"I wasn't one of the WORST drug cheats of my era, I was the BEST"

Not to be picky Kevster
But
I wasn't one of the WORST drug cheats of my era
I was the BEST

The controversial post gained a lot of attention from media outlets and also reached nearly 10,000 likes on the social media platform.

Chael Sonnen has failed tests for multiple different PEDs and considers himself an expert on the subject. During one of his YouTube videos, Sonnen said:

"I’m an expert in performance enhancers for all the wrong reasons, but an expert nonetheless."

Watch the full video below:

UFC fighters getting caught taking PEDs isn't anything new, but not many are as open about it as Sonnen. The former UFC title challenger had a great career in the organization but never managed to win a UFC title.

The 45-year-old is now retired from MMA but finished his career with two massive fights in Bellator. Sonnen faced Fedor Emelianenko and Lyoto Machida in back-to-back fights. 'The Bad Guy' lost these bouts and hasn't returned to the sport since.

Chael Sonnen reflects on his PED use after Dana White's comment

As mentioned, Chael Sonnen is very open about his use of PEDs. However, a comment that Dana White made apparently changed his stance about using them.

After USADA testing was announced by the UFC, Sonnen stated that White made a comment that changed his mindset about PEDs. It led to 'The American Gangster' reflecting on his own use of drugs:

"Somehow, baseball got brought up, use and steroids within baseball, and Dana said, 'Well, it's a guy hitting a ball with a stick. This is combat, where somebody can hurt or kill somebody by doing something secretly that's against the rules.' Boom! Changed me. Right there, that was the moment. I had to look at the man in the mirror. Woah, I got this all wrong."

Watch Sonnen talk about performance enhancing drugs here:

Sonnen was clearly reflecting on his use of drugs while competing against opponents during his MMA career. It not only gave 'The Bad Guy' an advantage but also risked his opponent's health.

Michael Bisping famously lost his eye after his fight against Vitor Belfort in 2013. Bisping later labeled Belfort the "the biggest cheat in the history of combat sports." This just goes to show how dangerous MMA can be, especially when a fighter is cheating.