Sunday, August 8, 2010

Anderson Silva Beats Chael Sonnen in a Stunner


Once he got Silva in the cage at UFC 117, he backed the talk up for four and a half rounds, dominating Silva until the champion finally managed to sink in a triangle choke that forced Sonnen to tap out in the fifth round.

"Chael had a hell of a fight tonight," Silva said afterward. "I knew that I was losing the first four rounds."

"It was a tough fight," Sonnen said afterward. "He's a tough guy. I came in second. What can I say? They gave me my chance and I came up short."

Sonnen stunned Silva by landing a big punch in the first minute of the first round, and after that landed a few more punches to Silva's chin before taking Silva down and getting him on his back against the fence. At that point, it was the most trouble Silva had ever been in his UFC career. From there Sonnen continued with the ground and pound, landing punch after punch after punch as Silva did nothing but flail away and try to protect himself from the bottom. Silva managed to make it out of the first round, but it was by far the worst round Silva has ever seen in the Octagon. I gave the first round to Sonnen, 10-8.

Early in the fifth round Sonnen landed a punch and Silva slipped to the ground, and then Sonnen pounced. Once again, it was Sonnen on top, landing punches and controlling Silva. But this time Silva managed to sink in a triangle choke that got Sonnen to submit, bringing a shocking end to a brilliant fight. Although Sonnen briefly appeared to be protesting as if he hadn't actually tapped out, it was clear that he had.

Silva entered the fight with a UFC record 11-fight winning streak. The 12th was the toughest win of them all.

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