Rewatched Silva/Sonnen UFC 117

[Augustus Caesar]

It was definitely a classic fight, I enjoyed reading your notes TS.

 

[KoreanZawmbie]

Sonnen got the better of Silva in the standing....only in the first round.

Did you forget the elbow that put Sonnen down by silva? Also, Silva landed solid kicks throughout, and Sonnen resorted to taking him down.

 

[Shaungotti]

That fight was Silva's defining moment, in my mind, it's not even close. He was pushed to the limit and forced to reach way down in his bag of tricks to pull it out.

The fight game can be so cruel, because Sonnen could feel the belt around his waist. The guy fought his ass off. And yes, Silva's ability to absorb damage cannot be questioned. Awesome fight.

 

[Sac423]

Sonnen got the better of Silva in the standing....only in the first round.

Did you forget the elbow that put Sonnen down by silva? Also, Silva landed solid kicks throughout, and Sonnen resorted to taking him down.

If you watch the Gif, Silva sneakily grabs Sonnen's leg and he tries to maintain balance with a hop but falls over.

not saying it didnt hurt like a mother, but he fell due to that leg grab. But hey, might be one of those things where people have different perspectives

 

[Shaungotti]

If you watch the Gif, Silva sneakily grabs Sonnen's leg and he tries to maintain balance with a hop but falls over.

not saying it didnt hurt like a mother, but he fell due to that leg grab. But hey, might be one of those things where people have different perspectives

That's interesting, I never noticed that when I watched the fight live. I assumed he was momentarily stunned. Like you said, I'm sure that hurt like hell, but it does look like he goes down from the leg grab rather than the elbow.

 

[milkywaygalxee**]

I'm confused about something. Did Sonnen cheat in this fight or didn't he? If he did then his performance is meaningless. Isn't it?

 

[Mike Escobar]

If you watch the Gif, Silva sneakily grabs Sonnen's leg and he tries to maintain balance with a hop but falls over.

not saying it didnt hurt like a mother, but he fell due to that leg grab. But hey, might be one of those things where people have different perspectives

From my perspective, the elbow looks like it stuns Sonnen. After Silva connects with the elbow, Sonnens left leg goes limp. I didn't see a hop. It looks more like a fold. But like you said, there is definitely a perspective aspect involved.

 

[guilineseguy]

Great point about the striking in the first round, people do tend to forget that. Sonnen's not a great striker by any stretch, but for whatever reason, he's had more success than anyone against Silva, and Silva always looks uncomfortable and out of control when throwing with him. Even in the fourth round of this fight, and the second of the second fight, Silva looked good on the feet but not ANDERSON SILVA good. Another thing I noticed recently rewatching that fight is how close Silva gets to finishing it in the 4th. At the end of his big flurry in the 4th, right before Sonnen shoots for a takedown, Silva throws that same rising elbow that he destroyed Tony Fryklund with. He misses by about an inch, but if that, or a couple other things had landed, he could have won it right there, by TKO in the 4th.

He was preparing for a takedown. If you have to worry about it, its not so easy to play your opponents. Thats why Sonnen had the success he did.

Sonnen only threw good strikes in the first the rest of the time was nothing substantial really.

 

[gabbo]

If you watch the Gif, Silva sneakily grabs Sonnen's leg and he tries to maintain balance with a hop but falls over.

not saying it didnt hurt like a mother, but he fell due to that leg grab. But hey, might be one of those things where people have different perspectives

I think it's a little bit of both. Sure the being on one leg left chael off balance but he definitely buckled from being elbowed right on his jaw.

 

[guilineseguy]

I'm confused about something. Did Sonnen cheat in this fight or didn't he? If he did then his performance is meaningless. Isn't it?

He did get caught using PED's (sorry but like the other "low T" guys in MMA...I don't but it for a second)

But it shouldn't really take away from his performance. Its not like it was the test. that made it happen. You have to train for it.

 

[Canecorsos]

Sonnen couldn't pop a grape with his fists. Imagine thats Bones Jones on Silva and you will see Silva beat half to death with his nasty elbows.

 

[guilineseguy]

Sonnen couldn't pop a grape with his fists. Imagine thats Bones Jones on Silva and you will see Silva beat half to death with his nasty elbows.

Thats where this fight loses me. Jones isn't going to be so easy to hold down, and has shown he has AWESOME top control. I don't see this going good for Chael...at all.

 

[Mike Escobar]

Sonnen couldn't pop a grape with his fists. Imagine thats Bones Jones on Silva and you will see Silva beat half to death with his nasty elbows.

Saying Sonnen has no power is correct and incorrect. While he hasn't demonstrated power to consistently damage people on the feet, some of the punched he connected in the Silva fight on the ground definitely had power behind them, a few of them bouncing Silvas head off the floor.

Also, Bones and Sonnen have completely different fighting styles. Jones will not bumrush Silva from the opening bell and put Silva on his back right away. Jones takes people down from the clinch. Andersons wrestling weakness is from guys who have powerful double legs.

I do agree that Jones on top of Silva is bad news, I believe Jones would still have a hard time finishing Silva. Silva can take a lot of punishment.

 

[bongnatas]

Well aren't you just the douchebag nobody living through someone else's accomplishments.

please...I just live in reality, not denial

give it a shot, you'll feel better

 

[brockkab]

Truly, Sonnen owned Silva as far as striking goes in this fight.

And that's where I stopped reading.

 

[Tiger_vs_Mantis]

During the 2nd round, Sonnen kept smacking Silva's ears without response. This is amazing. Not for Sonnen's effort. But for Silva's tolerance. Silva truly proved himself a machine during this fight. Most of Sonnen's strikes were far from devastating. But Silva's durability was, nonetheless, monumental.

Not only the smacking of the ears, but how about when Sonnen dropped Silva (and himself) right onto the back of Silva's skull when Silva had Sonnen wrapped up in his guard? That had to have hurt and Silva just didn't give a fuck.

 

[BOXINGMMAFREAK]

Not only the smacking of the ears, but how about when Sonnen dropped Silva (and himself) right onto the back of Silva's skull when Silva had Sonnen wrapped up in his guard? That had to have hurt and Silva just didn't give a fuck.

yeah silva just kept holing on, not showing any emotion