FOX Sports statement: Chael Sonnen to apologize for 'inappropriate' remarks about Rihanna and domestic violence

Yes Chael, apparently it was too soon.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight contender Chael Sonnen, who moonlights as a sports and mixed martial arts (MMA) analyst on the FOX Sports 1 network, found himself in hot water earlier this week for making light of domestic violence during a recent taping of FOX Sports Live:

"Look, Floyd (Mayweather) needs to keep doing what he's doing, which is fighting complete tomato cans that we've never heard of before. I've never seen anybody in the history of America get so rich and so famous off of having complete wimps throwing punch at their faces. I know what you're saying. You're saying, ‘Well, it's happened before, what about Rihanna?' ... Too soon? Was it too soon?"

It was for this columnist, who took "The American Gangster" to task for his crude brand of humor.

Rihanna is an R&B singer who made headlines back in 2009 after being assaulted by then-boyfriend and fellow recording artist Chris Brown, who according to the police report, beat, bit and choked the 20-year-old, leaving her with visible bruises and contusions.

Funny, right? Not quite...

Sonnen is known -- and perhaps beloved -- by the combat sports world for his incessant trash talk, as well as his ability to hype up a fight. Unfortunately, his unique gift of gab has not translated well to his appearances outside the cage, prompting the network to issue an apology on his behalf.

From DeadSpin:

"FOX Sports regrets the comments Chael Sonnen made during last night's edition of FOX Sports Live. They were an inappropriate attempt at humor that Sonnen acknowledges shouldn't have been made and he apologizes to anyone who may have been offended by his remarks."

It's a soft apology, but an apology nonetheless.

Sonnen may be out of the broadcast booth in the coming weeks as he focuses on his next fight, a UFC 167 co-main event against fellow FOX mouthpiece Rashad Evans, who knows a thing or two about off-color remarks. "Suga" meets the self-proclaimed "bad guy" on Nov. 16, 2013 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

What sort of trash talk we can expect post-Rihannagate, remains to be seen.