Chael Sonnen is returning to the television airwaves, for one night at least. And it will cost you $19.95 for the privilege of hearing the former UFC fighter and Fox television analyst in his return to the microphone.
Sonnen will serve as the color commentator on Oct. 3 for BattleGrounds MMA's pay-per-view at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla., that will feature a one-night, eight-man welterweight tournament.
Sonnen, of course, was fired by Fox Sports and lost his job with the UFC after twice testing positive for performance enhancing drugs in a three-week span in May and June. He was then suspended for two years by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
He's been interviewed on a number of podcasts, and he'll compete in the Metamoris grappling event in Southern California next month. But the Oct. 3 fight card will be the first time he's been on television since he was dumped by Fox.
Clearly, it is a ploy by BattleGrounds organizers to try to sell more pay-per-views. The event, which features a number of former UFC fighters, is offering a $50,000 first prize. The fighters announced for the event are Cody McKenzie, Brock Larson, Luigi Fioravanti, David Mitchell, Roan Carneiro and Trey Houston.
Dennis Hallman and Chris Honeycutt pulled out of the tournament, but their replacements haven't been named.
BattleGrounds has received a lot of publicity as a result of hiring Ross and Sonnen, publicity it probably wouldn't have garnered otherwise.
"This is going to be a TV event that any MMA fan won?t want to miss,? Sonnen said.� ?I am thrilled to be working with a legend like Jim Ross and, together, we are going to make the BattleGrounds MMA event one of the most exciting extravaganzas in combat sports history."
It's hard to say how the fights will turn out, but the broadcast should be entertaining with Sonnen and Ross, both of whom have wrestling backgrounds. Sonnen played a pro wrestling heel character for much of the last few years, while Ross is a longtime play-by-play announcer in wrestling.
Ross said he has long wanted to do an MMA fight.
"As a longtime fan of MMA, to be asked to call the fights for the BattleGrounds MMA event is amazingly exciting for me," Ross said. "I've broadcast NFL and XFL games, Fox Sports boxing and WWE action, but MMA is a new adventure and one that I'm enormously excited about contributing to. To launch this phase of my broadcasting career in my home state, and with Chael Sonnen at cageside, makes it an ideal opportunity and a bucket list experience."
Edgar Garcia Leonard Garcia Andrew Gardner Tiki Ghosn Dennis George
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