Sonnen

By FCF Staff

Middleweight contender Chael Sonnen has cleared the first hurdle he will face heading into his UFC 148 bout with champion Anderson Silva, as according to multiple reports, the fighter has been granted a therapeutic use exemption today by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer confirmed the reports with FCF Monday afternoon.

The exemption clears Sonnen for his testosterone replacement therapy, which the 35 year-old-fighter requires as a result of hypogonadism, a condition where the body no longer produces enough testosterone.

According to today’s reports, however, Sonnen’s TRT will be strictly monitored by the NSAC and the fighter’s previous applications to other states for a therapeutic use exemption are going to be reviewed.

Sonnen was suspended by the California Athletic State Commission in 2010, after the fighter tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone, following his loss to Silva at UFC 117.

Sonnen appealed the decision citing his TRT as to why he had failed the test; however, the veteran’s suspension was not completely revoked, in part, as a result of failing to properly disclose the treatments.

Sonnen will meet Silva on July 7th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The bout will mark the first time the two have fought since Silva submitted Sonnen in the fifth round in August, 2010.