Chael Sonnen admits intent to cheat: ‘I thought I could have my cake and eat it too’

Better late than never.

Following his unceremonious retirement due to two consecutive failed drug tests, Chael Sonnen finally decided to speak out regarding the circumstances that led to his withdrawal from UFC 175 and his subsequent exit from the sport entirely.

The three-time UFC title challenger revealed that he was well aware of the drugs he was placing into his body and believed he would be able to manipulate the system and get away with it entirely.

"I'm a grown man," Sonnen said on Chris Jericho's "Talk is Jericho" podcast. "I knew what I was doing I thought I could have my cake and eat it too. I can take this, I can feel great, they make me feel good, and that's one of the problems I have. They go ‘these are performance enhancers.' I go, 'guys, why else am I taking it?' I'm showing up to the doctors saying doc 'do you have anything to make me feel worse?'"

Chael failed an initial random drug test in February for the Clomiphene and Anastrozole. When the results were released, Sonnen proclaimed that he required the banned substances to help kick start his natural testosterone production after going off Testosterone Replacement Therapy. The second time around, he tested positive for Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO).

"I was hit on a surprise test that was 44 days before a fight," Sonnen continued. "Generally in our business we're tested fight night, so whatever it is you're doing or you're not doing, you gotta show up clean on fight day. When I talk about being dirty, I'm not talking about steroids or illegal drugs. I gotta make this distinction, if you ever failed a drug test, you are automatically taking something illegal and they were steroids, that's just the way it works in people's minds. Well, first off, none of them were illegal, and none of them were steroids, but I never offered a defense. I turned in my prescriptions. I got this from the doctor, this was valid stuff, but, these are still against the rules, I knew it."

Sonnen does believe that fans will ultimately forgive those who come clean and present themselves honestly for public judgment and criticism.

"Things change pretty quickly," Sonnen said. "People are forgiving when you're honest. ... If I could ever advise someone who is in my shoes, just come clean. Come as clean as you can, as quickly as you can. Then let the people decide."

Transcription taken from MMAFighting.com.