Chael Sonnen proclaims himself ‘best drug cheat’ of his era

Last weekend, after a stoppage loss to former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, MMA star Chael Sonnen announced his retirement from the sport.

Sonnen retires with an impressive resume. He reached tremendous heights in WEC, the UFC, and Bellator. He defeated top-flight foes like Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Michael Bisping, Nate Marquardt, Brian Stann, Yushin Okami, Renato “Babalu” Sobral, and Jason “Mayhem” Miller. He also holds the distinction of being the only man to battle MMA legends Anderson Silva, Jon Jones and Fedor Emelianenko.

Of course, Chael Sonnen will also be remembered for a handful of sketchy drug test results, and ultimately, his complete admittance to relying on a little extra, illicit help at a various points in his career.

Shortly after Sonnen’s retirement announcement, one website ran an article with a headline that referred to him as the sport’s “worst drug cheat.”

Speaking in classic Chael Sonnen fashion, and demonstrating his unshakable commitment to never breaking character, the retired legend issued the following response to this headline:

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

— Chael Sonnen (@ChaelSonnen) June 18, 2019

“Not to be picky Kevster But I wasn’t one of the WORST drug cheats of my era I was the BEST,” he wrote on Twitter.

This is not the first time Chael Sonnen has poked fun at his shaky drug testing history.

“My phone rings, they call me up, and they say, ‘Chael, your testosterone level’s too high,'” he said at a Q&A ahead of UFC 133, discussing an incident where his testosterone levels were deemed questionably high. “Well I say, ‘Well how high was it?’ They said ‘0.7’. I said, ‘What’s normal?’ They said ‘0.6’. I said, ‘One-tenth? You’re telling me I’m one-tenth higher than the average man? Re-test that, you must’ve caught me on a low day.'”

What do you think of this response from Chael Sonnen?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 6/18/2019.