UFC 117: Anderson Silva Beats Chael Sonnen in a Stunner

By Michael David Smith - Lead Blogger

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Chael Sonnen talked more trash than any fighter in UFC history leading up to Saturday's middleweight title fight with Anderson Silva.

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."

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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.

Silva landed a leg kick at the start of the second round, but within 10 seconds Sonnen had taken him down again and gotten on top of him on the ground. Silva did a better job of controlling Sonnen than he had in the first round, but for the most part it was all Sonnen, landing punches to Silva's head from the top while Silva couldn't do much about it. Silva attempted a couple of arm bars that never had Sonnen in any real danger, and tried a kimura late in the round, but it was another round that Sonnen won, this time 10-9.

Silva started the third round with a punch and a spinning back kick, but once again Sonnen took Silva down within the first 30 seconds of the round, and from there he stayed on top of him and controlled him again. The third round was a clinic in takedowns, wrestling and control.

But in the fourth Silva was back to life, rocking Sonnen at the outset and having him badly hurt for a moment. But within a minute, Sonnen had done it again: He used his superior wrestling to grab Silva, throw him on his back and keep him there. Although Silva did some damage with his elbows from the bottom, leaving Sonnen's face a bloody mess by the end of the round, it was Sonnen who won the round.

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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