Chael Sonnen is now facing less charges for an alleged incident that took place in the hallway of a Four Seasons hotel in Las Vegas on December 18.
During an amendment hearing on Wednesday in the Las Vegas Township Justice Court, judge Joseph M. Bonaventure allowed prosecutors to amend their criminal complaint, resulting in prosecutors dropping a felony charge and four misdemeanor counts against Sonnen, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Prior to the hearing, Sonnon was facing 10 misdemeanor charges of battery and one felony charge of battery by strangulation.
Sonnen is now facing a total of six misdemeanor counts after Wednesday’s hearing.
The former UFC and Bellator fighter was initially charged with a misdemeanor and battery charge in January, however, the charges ended up being dismissed without prejudice, meaning that the court still had the option to re-file the charges if they saw fit, which they ultimately elected to do.
Sonnon’s lawyer, Dayvid Figler, said the amendment came after he encouraged prosecutors to reexamine the case after new charges were filed on March 14.
“I believe that’s exactly what happened, and they realized that the more appropriate way to move forward would be with this amended complaint,” Figler said.
Julie and Christopher Stellpflug are the ones who filed the lawsuit against Sonnen, claiming that he attacked them unprovoked, resulting in injuries. The couple filed the lawsuit several months after the misdemeanor battery charges against Sonnen were “dismissed by the court without prejudice.”
Stellpflug’s attorney, Kory Kaplan, said his clients objected to the reduced charges, claiming that it contradicted what prosecutors previously told them, according to the LVRJ.
Sonnen, 44, is expected to appear in court on April 27, according to online records.
