A man who said he was an employee of the Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas is suing Chael Sonnen in civil court.
Joshua Olds filed a civil complaint against Sonnen and unnamed individuals on Dec. 8 in Clark County (Nev.) District Court for assault and battery. He is also suing the Four Seasons for negligence. He is seeking undisclosed damages and a jury trial.
In the complaint obtained by MMA Fighting, Olds claims he was punched in the jaw during an alleged attack by the three-time UFC title challenger and MMA analyst. Sonnen is currently facing criminal and civil charges for an alleged attack on Dec. 18 involving multiple people.
Per the suit, Olds was a maintenance man at the Four Seasons when a “guest” of Sonnen “initiated a physical altercation” with him and Sonnen punched him, causing serious physical injuries that “necessitated significant medical care and treatment.”
It is unknown at the time of this writing whether Olds is a party in the criminal case against Sonnen, which was continued on Wednesday in Clark County criminal court pending a possible plea agreement with prosecutors, Sonnen’s attorney Dayvid Figler told judge Joe Bonaventure. Multiple requests to Olds’ attorney of record, Michael DuFour, went unreturned.
Sonnen faces four counts of misdemeanor battery stemming from the incident, which allegedly took place Dec. 18 at the Four Seasons and involved five victims. Sonnen was not arrested but cited for battery after several of the alleged victims elected to press charges.
Two of the alleged victims, Christopher and Julie Stellpflug, filed a civil suit against Sonnen, alleging he punched both of them and choked Christopher Stellpflug. The suit claimed an intoxicated Sonnen was “uttering unintelligible noises” and instigated the alleged assault by knocking a drink out of his hand. The Stellpflugs allege security was called when Sonnen struck another guest before their incident; Sonnen then fought and assaulted several guards who attempted to intervene.
Prosecutors elected to drop a felony battery by strangulation charge against Sonnen after determining the Stellpflug’s injuries were not severe enough, per the Las Vegas Review Journal. The couple’s misdemeanor battery charges were also dismissed from the case, their attorney Kory Kaplan told MMA Fighting, but the civil suit remains active and is in discovery.
The Stellpflugs told The Review Journal they suffered concussions, and Julie Stellpflug suffered a split lip in the alleged attack, which they called “totally unprovoked” in response to podcaster Brendan Schaub’s claim that Sonnen was defending his wife Brittany Sonnen after “some drunk guy” insulted her.
Sonnen, 45, has not publicly commented on his cases and remains sidelined from a commentary job with ESPN, but he has continued to make appearances on his YouTube channel.
