Kizer Says Sonnen Must Appear Before NSAC If He Wants To Coach On The Ultimate Fighter

Added on Apr 05, 2011 by J Merrill in

UFC & MMA

Before Chael Sonnen plead guilty to money laundering and fraud, he fought Anderson Silva and lost via a 5^th round submission. Later on he tested positive for PED’s, and was made to go in front of the California State Athletic Commission. In the hearing, he said he had his Testosterone therapy cleared with Kieth Kizer, the head of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and in turn Claifornia cut his suspension and fine in half. Immediately after Sonnen made these statements, Kizer said he had never spoke with Chael Sonnen in his life, and that he would have to explain himself if he wanted to fight in Nevada ever again.

There has since been large talk about having Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping on the The Ultimate Fighter reality show as coaches. This move would certainly be a ratings bonanza for the UFC, as both are well known for the ignorant trash they talk about their upcoming opponents. The problem is they film in Las Vegas, and Kizer still has a lot of questions for him. According to MMAjunkie, Sonnen has met with Kieth Kizer to inquire about getting his seconds license and to explain his comments (to be a corner man for a fighter you need to be licensed.)

The meeting was attended by UFC brass Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta and other UFC officers, but the meeting didn’t go the way they had planned. Kizer said “With his explanations, I don’t know how productive of a meeting it was. I really did expect a much more constructive meeting out of that. But it just wasn’t there. I think Zuffa tried; I know we tried. I put the blame completely on Mr. Sonnen.”

Kizer also admitted that Sonnen’s explanation fell far shot of making any sense. Kizer said “His point was, ‘Well, you and I have never talked before right now, but I don’t think I lied. Then he gave some very strange story and claimed, ‘My manager and you talked about therapeutic exemptions, and therefore, I just used the wrong word. I should have said ‘my’ instead of ‘I.’ As in ‘my manager’ instead of ‘I.”

Kizer said he isn’t buying it, he said “I was very straight with him, saying, ‘That’s a ridiculous explanation.’”

Kizer told Sonnen and the UFC, that he won’t just rubber stamp a Seconds license for Chael. He said Sonnen will have to answer questions in a hearing in front of the NSAC. He also said Sonnen would have to answer questions about his statements at the CSAC hearing where he said he spoke to Kizer, about his pending sentencing on a federal charge of money laundering and his criticism of referee Josh Rosenthal following his fight with Paulo Filho at WEC 31. After the Filho fight, Sonnen said he never tapped out, and he railed against Rosenthal every chance he got.

Kizer explained himself by saying “I usually just give that administratively to cornermen. But I will not do that for Mr. Sonnen.” He concluded by saying he might require the same for Bisping as well, and talked about the role they would play on the show. “They’re the coaches. I guess a little bit better term is a mentor of these young fighters on the show. Which, of course, begs a lot of questions, I think, when you’re talking about Mr. Sonnen, and maybe Mr. Bisping.

Dana White is saying having Chael on the show is a long shot right now, and that things were still up in there. He said “We have no clue who will coach; Chael has a ton of problems right now.”