“Here's the nuts and bolts of it: I was offered $5 million by [WWE promoter] Vince McMahon. Now, I was still under contract with the UFC and I never took this to Dana (White). I handled it on my own. I told [WWE], ‘No’ and that was the end of that,” he said in BJ Penn.com.
Sonnen was known for resorting to trash talks and has become largely successful in hyping his fights. This asset seemed to have gotten McMahon’s attention, hence the WWE offer.
The former fighter, however, said he did not bother to open the subject to UFC president Dana White as he might be seen as someone disloyal to UFC.
“I knew if I called Dana and said, ‘I’ve got a $5 million offer from Vince McMahon,’ Dana would have matched it,” said Sonnen. “Dana would have come close and now all of a sudden I’m not a loyal employee.”
Ironically, Sonnen was forced to retire from MMA competition after he was found positive for the use of human growth hormone (HGH), recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO), anastrozole, and human chorionic gonadotropin.
That was the third time he failed a drug test in his MMA career.
Later, UFC and FOX Sports announced they had terminated Sonnen's contract as a UFC analyst due to his multiple failed drug tests.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com