Just rewatched the first Silva/Sonnen fight and found myself recording notes. Not sure why, but I figure I will share.
First: The resounding thoughts - Silva is incredibly resilient, Sonnen's gastank is deep, and Sonnen's wrestling is top-notch.
So, from my scratchings:
We tend to forget but Sonnen's initial success, right away in the first round, was via a strike. Truly, Sonnen owned Silva as far as striking goes in this fight.
As I watched, it occurred to me why Sonnen's fights entertain while some GSP fights do not despite similarity. Sonnen is so so active. I am not saying that he throws deathbombs but he is constantly throwing something.
I honestly think the first four rounds could have been scored 10-8 in favor of Sonnen.
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.
During the 2nd and 3rd rounds, I discovered that Sonnen's biggest weakness was his ineffective use of elbows. In fact, I think Silva may have done more damage with his from the bottom. Sonnen is going to need to put some hate behind those elbows should he hope to have any chance against JBJ.
The first, I don't know, 40 seconds or so of the 4th round were great. Like MMA Hall of Fame worthy. That was good, competitive stuff.
And then, in the same round, the most amazing moment of the night occurred (aside, of course, from the submission). Sonnen completed one of the most sick takedowns I have ever seen. It was like a double-legged from the bottom. So, a sweep slash Greco takedown all-in-one. Such an unappreciated moment of the fight.
As the fight continued, I was most impressed by how effective a technique the buttefly guard is when executed by a master like Silva.
And then, let's not forget, the 5th round started with Sonnen rocking Silva. Via striking. I am so impressed with Sonnen's ability to sort of discretely land effective shots. On the feet, and via wrestling, Sonnen clearly won. He just didn't win the fight. It is what it is.
Such a classic bout.
