Chael Sonnen Loses a Heartbreaker to Anderson Silva at UFC 117

By Ben Fowlkes - Senior Writer

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OAKLAND, Calif. -- Through four and a half rounds of fighting at UFC 117 on Saturday night, Chael Sonnen was the better man. But as UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva demonstrated with a late triangle choke submission, all it takes is a few seconds for an improbable triumph to turn into a heartbreaking defeat.

"I'm devastated," Sonnen said at the post-fight press conference. "I worked hard and did what I could do all that nice stuff, but at the end of the day you either get your hand raised or you don't, and I didn't."

Sonnen did exactly what he said he'd do to the champion for twenty-three straight minutes. He took him down, roughed him up, and seemed well on his way to a clear-cut, unanimous decision victory. Perhaps most improbably, he also staggered Silva in the stand-up exchanges at several points in the fight.

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But late in the final round Sonnen postured up in Silva's guard and threw a series of lazy body shots, and that's when "The Spider" struck with a sudden triangle choke off his back. Sonnen tried to fall backwards and use his legs to help him defend, but seconds later he reached up and tapped Silva's thigh once. Referee Josh Rosenthal jumped in to stop it at 3:10 of the fifth round, even though both fighters were reluctant to give up the fight right away.

"I've been training jiu-jitsu for a long time," said Silva through his manager/translator, Ed Soares. "Out of respect to [Antonio Rodrigo] Nogueira, I wanted to finish this fight via submission."

For Sonnen, it was an incredibly disappointing ending to what had been a near perfect night. For Silva, it was the narrowest of escapes.

After the bout the champion mentioned that he had injured his ribs in training and had been advised not to fight by his doctor, but decided to press on anyway. That injury kept him from being able to compete at his full strength, he said, though he insisted he wasn't making excuses.

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"I didn't underestimate Chael. I never underestimate any of my opponents. He came in with a good game plan, and though I think that the way he promoted the fight was a little bit weird, it's all right now. I get to go back home to my family and he gets to go back home to his family. It's all good."

According to White, Silva's comeback win in the fight will help ensure that he's remembered as one of the all-time greats.

"The stuff that happened tonight is the stuff that makes legends. This guy got roughed up and beat up for five rounds, and he found a way to win."

The question on everyone's minds after the surprise ending was, when's the rematch? UFC president Dana White insisted he hadn't yet decided whether Sonnen would get another crack at Silva right away, or if Vitor Belfort would get the next title shot, saying "We don't know what we're going to do yet."

When the question was put to Sonnen, his answer was slightly more direct.

"There's a camaraderie that comes with this sport, but fighting Anderson Silva is a lot like eating Chinese food: twenty minutes after I do it, I'm going to want to do it again."

On the undercard, Jon Fitch further solidified his standing as a top welterweight in the UFC with a dominant decision victory over Thiago Alves. It may not have been the most exciting win in UFC history, or the most popular with the crowd, but Fitch put his wrestling skills to good use and controlled Alves on the mat to win all three rounds on every judges' scorecard.

In the post-fight press conference Fitch wouldn't comment on a potential future fight with teammate Josh Koscheck, who's slated to get the next shot at UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre, saying only that he was focusing on his wedding in three weeks, and hadn't considered anything beyond that point.

"What you're not hearing is no," White pointed out afterwards. "You're not hearing, 'No, I won't fight Josh Koscheck.'"

Finally, Brazilian striker Junior dos Santos became the number one heavyweight contender after battering Roy Nelson for three rounds. "Cigano" seemed close to putting Nelson away in the first round, but the Las Vegas native hung tough for three rounds, eventually losing a unanimous decision.
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Read More: ufc 117, front page rss, news, Anderson Silva (MMA), Chael Sonnen (MMA), Jon Fitch (MMA), Junior dos Santos (MMA), Roy Nelson (MMA), Thiago Alves (MMA)

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