Rewatched Silva/Sonnen UFC 117

Brock2026 said:
Sonnen tested higher than Overeem with a 16:1 Testosterone ratio before the fight. Silva came in with an injured rib. Than was forced to give up by getting caught. He won the battle but lost the war.
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All of this is true. And, I am, by no means defending Sonnen.

As I watched the fight tonight, I had the added knowledge of Silva's injury and Sonnen's cheating. Which, in retrospect, seemed mostly non-influential.

Again, in the first first and fourth rounds, Sonnen's takedowns were initiated by strikes. I don't know it seems the rib injury would have no play in that fact.

The roids? Okay, I'll give a bit. Perhaps Sonnen's seemingly endless stamina was due to it.

Back to the rib. Watch the entrances. Silva enters as confident as he had ever. No evidence of an injury.

Again, none of this matters. I was just watching the fight. As a fan. As I hope all of us to be. And it was a good match.

It presented some clues as to what Sonnen/Jones may look like. So far as that goes, Sonnen, IMO, will have to 4950303 times more aggressive should he hope to find success. With a vicious killer instinct, Sonnen would be unstoppable.
 
MarkHammer said:
Well thankfully for WhiskeyBoarder he wasn't harping about how Sonnen almost won, he actually gave a good, objective breakdown of the fight and gave both men credit (oh the horror). Did any of you even read his post or did you just look at the thread title and dive immediately into 'grrrrrrrr hater' mode?
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But it's all for nothing, because he lost. To me, none of that really strikes me as amazing. It would have been more amazing if Sonnen knew how to finish a fight.

Even if he did, the win would have been for naught because of him pissing hot.
 
Yeah thats definately one of the best fights I've seen live
A lot of drama and couldn't have happened at a better time
Gained soo much respect for sonnen after that
 
I think the shots that Chael hurt Anderson with standing were more about knocking off Silva's balance than they were about him hurting him so bad that his legs gave out. Don't get me wrong, they're still very effective shots and they count as a knockdown, but they were more balance knockdowns than they were damage knockdowns.

And Chael does need to use more elbows. That's one of the things I think he and GSP need to improve upon; they have similar styles, but they don't use the elbow from the top enough and, when they do, it isn't the same sort of really damaging elbow that we've seen from fighters like Tito Ortiz or that Gilbert Melendez used to finish Kawajiri with.

I think one of the mistakes he made in the fight was that he didn't try to pass to half-guard to deliver more ground 'n pound. I mean, I know Chael's style was to use his wrestling in the guard and deliver a lot of ground 'n pound and posture up when he can, and, from what I understand, being in half-gaurd from the top leaves you more susceptible to be swept and get caught in a kimura, both of which are huge chances to take with Anderson, but it would've been cool to see him do that in the fight. I'd also like to see him do that in his fights now, with his more cautious wrestling style, where he favors advancing position compared to trying to posture up in his opponents guard. He tries to just pass to mount and, hopefully, either get a submission or maybe, if they're very gassed, a TKO, but he doesn't try to pass to half-guard and stay there to deliver elbows and body shots. I think that's something he should try to do from now on.
 
It's funny how you're impressed by Chael constantly throwing punches and not impressed by George. Look at the faces of the last 10 guys George has destroyed and then look at the damage Chael does to his opponents. Chael is going to get destroyed by Jones. A brutal ending to his fighting career. He can go sit at the desk for Fox sports.
 
watching live it was awesome.. sonnen handled silva for 23 minutes with ease, then an epic comeback from the champion.

great fight.
 
eiyuu said:
But it's all for nothing, because he lost. To me, none of that really strikes me as amazing. It would have been more amazing if Sonnen knew how to finish a fight.

Even if he did, the win would have been for naught because of him pissing hot.
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The first part of your quote kills me. The second part makes sense.

How is Sonnen's success againt Silva in striking not notable? Do you not realize that no one previously in the UFC had success in contacting Silva? Yet, Sonnen seriously rocked Silva in the first and fifth rounds. If they mean nothing else, Sonnen's successful strikes are notable for the very fact that they were successful. None other, at least if in the UFC had been.

Back to my point. All of this is what makes the fight so much fun to watch. It was so so so good. As a fan of MMA, and not of individual fighters, this is one of the matches I so look forward to rewatching.

To your second point? I agree, fully. It is what it is.
 
So many shit talking children on here. Thread starter, great post! I was there ring side in the media section, and have to say it left me speechless. Never have I been to a sporting event as this one in Sacramento with such a tilted crowd. It went back and forth the entire fight. "silva, sonnen, spider, USA" ect ect" I've never seen anything like it and may never again.
 
[WITH_TEETH];77494743 said:
It's funny how you're impressed by Chael constantly throwing punches and not impressed by George. Look at the faces of the last 10 guys George has destroyed and then look at the damage Chael does to his opponents. Chael is going to get destroyed by Jones. A brutal ending to his fighting career. He can go sit at the desk for Fox sports.
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You're right in one aspect. I made a short-sighted comparison to GSP.

I made a post on this very forum after the Hardy fight defending GSP. That is a fight that he continuously tried to finish and was derided when it went to decision.

It was a bad comparison on my part. The point was to highlight how ridiculously active Sonnen remains from the top. I credit Silva for simply dealing with the annoyance that Sonnen was providing throughout the fight.
 
I was literally pacing the ENTIRE fight and had to be told to sit down at least five times. The energy was riveting. Gives me chills recalling that night.
 
chefmma said:
So many shit talking children on here. Thread starter, great post! I was there ring side in the media section, and have to say it left me speechless. Never have I been to a sporting event as this one in Sacramento with such a tilted crowd. It went back and forth the entire fight. "silva, sonnen, spider, USA" ect ect" I've never seen anything like it and may never again.
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Really appreciate your post. Thanks! I am jealous of your experience. My biggest MMA experience ended in heartbreak - Fedor/Big Foot. That hurt. Although the massive knockouts before the main event sort of made up for my loss. lol. Sorry for the digression.
 
Great post.

Anderson rocking Sonnen with the elbow and Sonnens reversal from the bottom are very underappreciated
 
I really wish I can watch Anderson fight live someday!

 
WhiskeyBoarder said:
Man, so many haters replying to my post.

I am trying to be objective.

There is so much uncertainty when it comes to performance enhancers that I don't even factor them anymore. I mean, can anyone name a fighter they are sure is clean. Seriously, SURE?

Don't answer that. I don't want to digress.

The most resounding thing about this fight, to me, is Silva's resiliency. He took alot of punishment. And just continued on.

And the one thing most overlooked about this fight is Sonnen's sick takedown from the bottom in the fourth round. Jut masterful wrestling.

Please let this discussion focus on the fight, and not the semantics.
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U were objective until the 10-8 round crap. R u freakin kidding me
 
LeForte said:
Totally agree. I watched the sub again just to see Silva win but the cheater got what he deserved.

"Sonnen's gastank is deep"

Yep it is almost like he was taking some banned substance that gave him a physical advantage.
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Do tell on how taking a substance automatically makes you super human. :rolleyes:
 
Minnja said:
I really wish I can watch Anderson fight live someday!

... nasty live Silva/Sonnen youtube video
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So. Sooo. epic.

Again, it doesn't matter who you are a fan of, if you appreciate MMA, that match was special.

That youtube clip is testament.
 
nice write up Whiskey

was a historical fight because of the comeback, but sonnen did show some great tenacity and silva for his grit
 
"steroids" dont improve technique and sonnen out striked silva in the 1st fight
 
WhiskeyBoarder said:
We tend to forget but Sonnen's initial success, right away in the first round, was via a strike.
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You think so? We all already knew about Sonnen's wrestling, but it seems like that strike in the first round was what people remembered for Sonnen's offense the most in that fight.
 
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