Multiple sources reported Wednesday that Chael Sonnen and Brian Stann are slated to fight at UFC 136 in Houston.
Sonnen, who has not stepped into the Octagon since his match-of-the-year loss to Anderson Silva and the subsequent controversy over his hormone replacement therapy, had been working a feud on Twitter with Silva’s teammate Lyoto Machida prior to the news that his opponent was to be middleweight prospect Brian Stann.
Reports suggested the feud was to hype a light heavyweight contest between Sonnen and Machida, but talks apparently never advanced the way some sources were reporting.
Sonnen, therefore, will instead tackle the Marine Stann who has lept up the contender ladder following victories over Chris Leben and Jorge Santiago.
The winner of the Sonnen-Stann showdown would certainly be in the title picture at 185 (particularly if Sonnen wins, as UFC definitely wants a Sonnen-Silva rematch), although some believe Michael Bisping will get the next shot at Silva (or Yushin Okami if he wins this summer) if he decisively beats opposing “Ultimate Fighter” coach Jason “Mayhem” Miller.
Booking Sonnen, of course, is a controversial move for the UFC, given the fact that he ran into licensing trouble with the California State Athletic Commission over how he approached clearing the therapeutic use exemption for his testosterone treatment. He has not yet been re-licensed in California. As he seemingly made false statements about Nevada’s Keith Kizer in the process, he could face particular trouble in that crucial MMA state as well. Others who would follow the lead of California and Nevada would also hesitate to approve Sonnen.
Texas, the site of UFC 136 and the targeted Sonnen-Stann fight, is not expected to be one of the states that would give Sonnen difficulty, but taking advantage of that reality to book the middleweight contender would seem counter to UFC President Dana White’s implications that the company would not commission “shop.”
Regarding the Stann fight and Machida feud, Sonnen wrote, “I ask Brazil for a fight, and Machida answers.I ask for a REAL fight, and a Marine steps up.I see you hiding Lyoto, and I won’t forget this.”
