Sonnen's latest failure should cost him more than a meaningless suspension

The UFC is about to tell us what it really thinks of drug cheats. It has to, whether it wants to or not, and we have Chael Sonnen to thank for it.

As we now know, thanks to the sort of enhanced drug testing that has been shockingly rare in MMA thus far, the former UFC middleweight title contender was on just about everything but magic beans leading up to his scheduled bout at UFC 175.

First he got popped for anastrozole and clomiphene – two drugs that, while they were banned, Sonnen could at least explain away somewhat by pointing to their non-steroidal properties and the need to transition safely off his once-commission approved synthetic testosterone regimen. Sure, it was technically cheating, the Sonnen faithful admitted, but come on. Not really. Not in any meaningful sense.

Then this. A second drug test – one Sonnen was subjected to before the results of the first one were made public – reveals that he was also on human growth hormone (HGH) and EPO, two banned substances that are about as performance-enhancing as you could hope for as an MMA fighter. It’s a cheater’s dream cocktail.

If this were almost anyone else, it would end swiftly and predictably. Sonnen already announced his retirement – after, of course, he’d taken the drug test that he had to know would likely bust him with some pretty serious juice in his system, which is a little like resigning before you can be impeached – so then it’s just a matter of letting the Nevada State Athletic Commission hammer him for the sake of appearances. After that, fade to obscurity.

But this is Chael Sonnen we’re talking about. This is the guy who UFC President Dana White recently said could realistically run the organization some day. The FOX network? As in, the UFC’s broadcast partner? Executives there “love” Sonnen, according to White. Even after the failed test for anastrozole and clomiphene, it seemed like he’d have a future there, sitting behind a desk and being his usual charming, charismatic self on UFC broadcasts for years to come.

Now you have to wonder about that plan. If Sonnen keeps showing up on FOX Sports broadcasts after this damning development, it will kind of seem like the UFC condones, or at least doesn’t fully condemn, the drug cheats in its midsts.

And please, let’s not act like this isn’t the UFC’s call to make. It might be FOX Sports that’s signing his checks these days, but does anyone really think FOX is hiring anyone the UFC doesn’t approve of? To see how kind the network is to its MMA partner, just look at Saturday night’s studio segments, where hosts Karyn Bryant, Daniel Cormier and Dominick Cruz strained to fill time between fights, yet didn’t mention the major breaking news story rippling through the sport.

When FOX did finally acknowledge it, at the very end of its post-fight show, after analyzing prelim bouts and “Ultimate Fighter” storylines, it was only to read Sonnen’s statement straight from the MMAFighting.com report. Guess the hard analysis is reserved for more pressing topics, like preliminary-card predictions.

No, this is going to be on the UFC, whatever happens from here on out. If it keeps putting him on its TV shows, it’ll send the message that it doesn’t think doping is such an unforgivable sin. (It’s not like he pushed a referee or anything.)

If, on the other hand, it takes Sonnen off the air and keeps him away from company business, it might actually succeed in letting other fighters know that they’re gambling with more than one career option when they use drugs to get an unfair and dangerous advantage over their opponents. It might actually take a stand that matters, and just when the drug testing is threatening to get serious enough to make the sport’s cheaters nervous.

That’s the choice, and it couldn’t be more clear. Sonnen already made his. Now it’s the UFC’s turn.

For more on the organization’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.