When Bruce Buffer announced Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen’s name we knew things were about to get real interesting, the cage was shut and there was no turning back for either fighter. The fans saw some very aggressive and unexpected standup from Sonnen and he came out swinging with strikes and kicks. The first person stunned by strikes in this fight was surprisingly Anderson Silva, and the first person taken down was Chael Sonnen, did they reverse rolls? We all knew we were in for a good fight, and a fight that took both Silva and Sonnen fans on a four and a half round roller coaster of emotion.
The fans in Oakland came out early with cheers screaming Silva’s name in hopes for a beautiful Knockout, but for the next 3 rounds would be screaming a different tune. Chants of USA and Sonnen filled Oracle Arena, as Sonnen dominated the champ in extravagant fashion. Takedown after takedown, punch after punch Silva was in trouble. Chael literally took Anderson down at will, and beat the spiders head into the mat for 90 percent of this fight. Anderson was smothered and covered like waffle house hash browns and it looked like this fight was going to be 50-45 to the new champ.
In the forth and fifth round Anderson really came to life and looked to be attacking with strikes but to no avail as he was taken down and pounded on though out both of the championship rounds. With less than a half a round left in the fight Anderson through a powerful shot off his back catching Sonnen on the chin forcing him to drop his posture low. He then popped his legs out of spider guard very quickly and threw one over Chael’s back securing a triangle.
There was an immediate barrage of strikes from Silva and Sonnen appeared to be defending it well. Immediately Anderson contorted Sonnen’s arm and cranked a dual submission arm bar triangle forcing a very reluctant tap at 3:10 of the 5th round.
This is the second time we have seen this submission in a major title fight this year from a Brazilian. Werdum sunk an almost identical submission on the world’s best heavyweight in the first round of their title fight.
Anderson blamed his poor performance on a recent cracked rib, both right after the fight and in the press conference, but also welcomed a re-match with Chael Sonnen. He also mentioned that he felt Nogueira was disrespected from Sonnen’s trash talk so he wanted to submit him during the fight and was happy he did.
Sonnen also mentioned that he wanted to coach season 13 against Anderson Silva, and the idea was brilliant. The one liners and trash talk would make that season one of the most viewed, and the fans would get to see great MMA legends coaching from black house, possibly even Steven Segal. The UFC could even do another USA versus season, with Brazil as the opponent.
The fight between Silva and Sonnen will be talked about for quite some time and it showed us many things about both fighters that need to change. This fight also proved that Chael is the #2 contender and has well deserved his spot on the rankings. What an awesome night of fights and we look forward to what the UFC has in store for all of these fighters next.
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