NSAC has itself to blame for confusion over Chael Sonnen's Metamoris eligibility

The more you dig into it, the more the battle over Chael Sonnen’s participation in a grappling match at Metamoris 4 on Saturday seems to hinge on semantics. Determining who’s right and who’s wrong requires first determining what certain key words mean – words like “fight” and “unarmed combat” – and also what the rules are in the first place.

It’s a mess, in other words, and the Nevada State Athletic Commission really only has itself to blame for not making things clear from the start.

First, the facts: Sonnen agreed to face Andre Galvao in a grappling match at Metamoris 4 a few weeks before the NSAC’s hearing to determine his future following two failed drug tests. Neither Sonnen nor the commission mentioned his submission grappling plans at any point during the hearing, though his plans to compete were common knowledge at the time.

When Sonnen didn’t contest any of the commission’s accusations – “I’m guilty,” he said flatly at one point – the commissioners moved quickly to decide on a punishment. That punishment included forcing Sonnen to pay all financial costs associated with his failed tests and the ensuing fallout, asking him to educate other fighters on the dangers of performance-enhancing drug use, and hitting him with  a two-year suspension.

“In addition,” commissioner Pat Lundvall added when putting forth the motion, “that we solicit Mr. Sonnen’s agreement that he will not fight in any other jurisdiction for that same period of time.”

Take note of that word, “fight,” because it’s important. A lot depends on what that word actually means in this context.

At the time Lundvall suggested that addendum, commissioner Bill Brady spoke up to wonder whether the commission even had the authority to force such an agreement. This seemed like a fine opportunity for the commission to discuss what Sonnen could and could not do during his two-year suspension. It might also have been an illuminating discussion for the purposes of figuring out the limits of the commission’s authority in the first place.

The commissioners opted not to have that potentially fruitful discussion. Instead, Lundvall offered a speedy resolution by turning to Sonnen and asking him whether he agreed to the punishment.

“I agree,” Sonnen said.

But what did he just agree to? According to Lundvall’s own choice of words, he was being asked not to “fight” during his two-year suspension. So does a professional submission grappling match count as a fight?

That’s where it gets tricky. Metamoris and organizers of other grappling competitions have been known to use that language to refer to their own matches, but the NSAC’s own rules define a “contest” as “unarmed combat,” and NAC 467.0037 defines unarmed combat as “boxing or any form of competition in which a blow is usually struck which may reasonably be expected to inflict injury.”

Strikes aren’t allowed in Metamoris matches, so that would seem to rule them out by the NSAC’s own definition. But then there’s NAC 467.792, which declares that, “All full-contact martial arts are forms of unarmed combat,” and as such, “The provisions pertaining to licenses, fees, dates of programs and disciplinary action in the laws and regulations on unarmed combat apply to contests or exhibitions of such martial arts.”

The phrase “full-contact” is frustratingly vague here (and the NSAC has repeatedly refused to answer any of MMAjunkie’s questions regarding the situation as it related to Sonnen), but as anyone who’s competed in a jiu-jitsu tournament in the state of Nevada knows, there’s typically no indication that it’s taking place under the authority of the NSAC.

Up until now, the commission has seemed content to let grappling tournaments be their own thing. The Metamoris event in question takes place in California, but as California State Athletic Commission Executive Officer Andy Foster told Sherdog.com’s Greg Savage this week, the CSAC has no jurisdiction over it.

“Competitors are not licensed, they are not drug tested, and the commission does not provide any officials for the matches,” Savage writes.

How can Metamoris matches be ignored by the local commission, yet subject to this one specific brand of oversight from the commission in Nevada? More importantly, how could Sonnen have known that the NSAC would adopt this suddenly broad view of what a “fight” is and isn’t at the time that he agreed to Lundvall’s suggested punishment? Did the NSAC assume that human growth hormone also gives people the ability to read minds?

It’s not hard to see how the NSAC might feel like Sonnen is exploiting a loophole here. The suspension is a punishment. Part of its intent is to keep him from making money using his athletic talents and his drug-enhanced muscles during the term of the suspension. By competing in unregulated grappling tournament for financial gain, he’s making an end run around the intent of the ruling. But surely that ruling must have some limits, right?

For instance, if Sonnen wanted to do a bodybuilding competition – another field where he might potentially benefit from ill-gotten gains thanks to his well-documented drug use – would the NSAC suddenly claim authority over that? How about an arm wrestling tournament? How about competitive eating or a three-point contest?

This is where the commission should have erred on the side of clarity. Instead it wanted to hurry up and settle the matter, and the result is confusion stemming from its own word choice and its own rules. The commissioners can’t really blame Sonnen for that. The best thing it can do now is back off and do better next time – and don’t be surprised if there is a next time.