Chael Sonnen: I'm definitely not going to compete again, I'm done

Chael Sonnen will be eligible to return to fighting as early as June 2016, but the former two-weight-class title contender promises that he's staying retired and won't be staging a comeback next year.

Sonnen was suspended for two years by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in July 2014 after testing positive for a cocktail of illegal substances, and the veteran competitor confessed to his wrongdoing during the hearing before his sentence was handed down.

Since that time, Sonnen has stayed busy with a podcast and various commentating gigs, but with his suspension coming to an end in the next six months there has been a lot of speculation that he might contemplate another run in the UFC. Even his manager Mike Roberts of MMA Inc. told FOX Sports as recently as November that he believed Sonnen would fight again.

For his part, Sonnen vehemently disagrees.

"I'm definitely not going to compete again," Sonnen told FOX Sports just before UFC 194 in Las Vegas. "I will tell you that Mike (Roberts) tells me the same thing that he told you. He tells me all the time, 'Oh yeah, I know you will.' It's like who is more likely in this scenario to know the answer to this and he argues with me to me -- like if he was arguing with the media it would be one thing, but he argues this to me, which I just find hilarious. He's like, 'I'll bet you,' and I said, 'Mike, you really want to make that bet?'. Which one of us is more likely to know the answer?

"No, I'm done."

Sonnen has a good laugh while joking around with his manager about a possible return to action, but he promises that there's no chance he's going to fight again.

Prior to his retirement, Sonnen was one of the most marketable and high-profile athletes on the entire UFC roster. He was a massive draw at the box office and on pay-per-view where he became one of the top five highest grossing athletes on the roster.

Still, Sonnen says his fighting days are now behind him and as much as he appreciates the desire fans have for him to compete again, he refuses to be one of those athletes who can't close the door after their career is over.

"I appreciate that and there's a bit of that that's flattering and sometimes fun to fantasize about. But no. I always got annoyed with guys who did that or kind of dangled that out there," Sonnen said. "It was their way of getting people to beg them 'oh come on you'd be great!'.

"It's just fishing for a compliment in a weird way. If you're going to do some football or whatever it is, just say you're going to do it and do it. If you're not, say you're not. I never got it. I don't want to be one of those guys."

The competitive spirit is the one thing that never seems to fizzle away for athletes after retirement, but Sonnen says the toughest part of his retirement was the idea that he wouldn't be around the sport as much.

So Sonnen has remained a fixture in MMA even in his post-fight career and that has helped him cope with retirement and no longer stepping inside the Octagon to compete again.

"For me, my career started as a fan and that's how it will end. As just a fan and I like to participate," Sonnen said. "If I can be involved in some way, it's helpful. I had some opportunities to transition and stay involved and I think that did help. I love the sport and I'm passionate about it and it was nice to transition and still be able to fill in some of the cracks."