UFC middleweight great Chael Sonnen is in Las Vegas hot water for a December casino fight that he originally had avoided charges on.
On Monday, TMZ Sports reported the news that Sonnen, 44, was facing a laundry list of charges from the Las Vegas prosecutor’s office. Court documents obtained by the outlet revealed the two-time UFC middleweight title challenger was facing one charge of felony battery strangulation, and 10 other misdemeanor battery charges.
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The charges stem from an altercation the Bellator veteran had with six individuals at the Luxor Hotel & Casino. Court records accused him of getting the better of one woman and five men during a dustup that took place on the night of Dec. 18.
MMA legend Chael Sonnen facing 11 battery charges in Las Vegas
Las Vegas officials state in the documents that the current ESPN and Showtime MMA analyst “choked a man, punched and/or struck a woman, and punched and/or kneed others in the head and face during the incident.”
In Dec., Sonnen was reportedly hit with five citations from law enforcement officials following the incident. The case was eventually dismissed a month later when a judge stated, “the citation’s notice to appear failed to comply with the legal requirements as set forth by Nevada law.”
The issue with dismissed “without prejudice” at the time. Making it seem like Sonnen was no longer in any danger going forward. However, in legal jargon, “without prejudice” still allowed Las Vegas prosecutors the chance to refile charges at a later date. Which is exactly what they did on March 14.
Sonnen has not competed since June of 2019. He ended his career, and run in Bellator with back-to-back losses to MMA legends in Fedor Emelianenko and Lyoto Machida. During his four-year run in the Octagon, he faced greats of the time in Rashad Evans, Jon Jones, and has victories over former UFC champions Mauricio Rua and Michael Bisping.
Sonnen will be most remembered for his pair of title fight losses to the greatest middleweight champion in UFC history, Anderson Silva.