In a case of irony one would expect to see in a classic Greek tragedy, three-time UFC title challenger is out of UFC 175 after failing a random drug test for two anti-estrogenic drugs.

ESPN broke the news Tuesday afternoon and Sonnen, in his capacity as a FOX Sports 1 analyst, has already explained his situation and already decided he will appeal the results.

"I have a legitimate medical need for testosterone. I was not an abuser. I was a user of testosterone. So when you come off of this and you have a medical need, you must transition,” said Sonnen, a user of testosterone replacement therapy before it was banned in February.

“Now what you'll take is Clomiphene and HCG. I took Clomiphene and I took HCG ...This was a test done by USADA, it never came with that form. This is the only test I've taken in my history of competition and participation in Nevada that didn't come with that disclosure form.”

The Nevada State Athletic Commission was responsible both for banning TRT and administering the random drug test that Sonnen failed, which was administered last month.

Later on the broadcast, Sonnen hinted he may retire if he doesn’t win his appeal, particularly since he has a child on the way.

" … In nine months, I will have the label of parent and father. And I have to go through this and choose between having the label of being a father and a parent, or having the label of being an athlete, I am going to choose, every single time, parent and father.”

The situation hinges on the ridiculous side of things since “The American Gangster” was fighting Vitor Belfort on the July 5 card since his original opponent, Wanderlei Silva, was not eligible to fight after refusing a random drug test from the NSAC.

Given that a source “close to the organization” told MMA Junkie that Belfort may still fight a new opponent on the card, it would appear that the UFC has little to no faith in Sonnen winning his appeal.

This predicament gets even cloudier when factoring in “The Phenom,” who recently admitted he failed a random drug test in February for elevated levels of testosterone.

Therefore, it’s quite plausible he may not get licensed at the NSAC’s June 17 hearing.

Sonnen failed a drug test for elevated levels of testosterone after pushing then-seemingly unstoppable middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 117 in August 2010. 

The NSAC suspended Sonnen a year as a result of the indiscretion in that instance and would likely use that as a measuring stick when hearing Sonnen’s argument this time around.